


Life As She Knows It

by Meg_NeverMore



Series: 'Cause I'm Louder Than a Lion (My Hands Wipe Out the Ghosts) [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Always-a-girl Harry Potter, Blame Wikipedia, Character Death, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Grief/Mourning, I probably used them wrong, Military Ranks, Order of the Phoenix - Freeform, Romance, Second War turned into WWIII, Second War with Voldemort, Time Travel Fix-It, but not really, fem!Harry Potter - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-05
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-01-18 06:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 69,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1418596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meg_NeverMore/pseuds/Meg_NeverMore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hollis Potter walked into what she thinks is the final battle of the war that's been raging for the last six years, only to find, when it's over and she's officially lost everything, that she's not where she's supposed to be. </p><p>Or, rather, she's not <i> when </i> she's supposed to be. </p><p>She wouldn't have made it as far as she did without being stubborn, however, so she pushed past the surprise and the grief and decides to change it, no matter the cost. </p><p>--<br/>Cross-posted on FanFic: Hollis Potter, with grim determination, walks into a battle that will make or break England - and affect the World War raging around them. The outcome is surprising, even for her, and she is left with nothing to do but adapt. </p><p>[Slightly Edited/Reworked]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bitter End

**Author's Note:**

> This DOES NOT reflect my actual attitude towards God. I believe in Him, and I know He loves us - I just don't think that Hollis would think so. As far as I know, Harry was never exposed to church or to God, and I think the lack of knowledge in addition to what he had been through would've made him less inclined to think well of Him.

Hollis Potter looked up from the latest reports about Death Eater movements in relation to their supply lines as a messenger darted into the room. Her assistants stirred as well, automatically reaching for their wands.

"Ma'am!" the slip of a girl, with red hair, bright blue eyes, and pointed chin said, running up to her. Hollis was pretty sure her name was Mary or Carrie. "Severus Snape is here – in the Medic wing."

Hollis swore under her breath, gesturing to her two attendants and walked quickly from the room. Texas and Maine followed her easily, both of them taller and older than her. They had real names but went by their states so that if Voldemort ever got a foothold in America, he couldn't track down their families and make them pay for their actions like he had so many English Aurors.

Texas was a late twenties, early thirties Mexican American, tall with a solid build, liquid black eyes like Severus', equally dark, thick curly hair, and one of the best cooks they had. She, like the rest of the Americans on Hollis' base, were the best America had to offer – the Wizarding version of Special Forces or Marines or whatever they were. Maine was an older guy, probably late forties, with short blonde hair, glinting hazel eyes, a broad, powerful build, and full of infectious, unfailing good humor. Sometimes, Hollis couldn't fathom why they'd follow her, a skinny twenty-one year old who hadn't even finished Hogwarts, but England had been following her since she was just seventeen, so she probably shouldn't have been so surprised. Besides, she considered their opinion on just about everything, so it was kind of like the group making decisions. Both were strategic genii that had helped her direct and win several battles.

"What happened?" she demanded, sweeping into the Medic wing. Their base was one of the larger, better supplied ones and they actually had three fully qualified Healers.

"We're not sure yet – he refuses to speak with us or let us tend to him. He wants to speak with you first, says it's an emergency," Anna Athers said, falling into step with them. Hollis was not surprised. Severus only appeared once in a blue moon, usually preferring to use other methods should a message need to be delivered, but when he did, he was still disagreeable with just about everyone, though he did get along with Texas the two times they had interacted.

Texas and Maine didn't need to be told to stay back as she approached the curtained off bed. She entered alone and found Severus partially sitting up. A few more streaks of grey had appeared since their last talk over five months ago, making him look older than his forty-two years. From the stiff way he was reclining, she was sure his injuries had to do with his ribs, but she didn't remark on it, merely waited for him to speak.

His dark eyes studied her in return, filled with that foreign emotion that was always there when they spoke alone. "You look sick," he said critically.

Her lips quirked into a faint smile. "What a way to greet a girl," she said dryly, not at all surprised by his deduction. She hadn't had a solid night's sleep in ages and she ate smaller portions than her men, though she hid that small fact from Texas, passing it off as having a naturally small appetite. "What brings you here?" It was always vitally important if it forced him to risk coming here. Part of her wondered just how badly he was injured if he had to force that point with the Healers to get them to send her a messenger. But it wasn't her business, so she didn't ask.

"Full on attack, all bases," Severus said, growing even more serious. "They plan on ending it tomorrow. And we both know they could," he added even more lowly despite the privacy spells he had undoubtedly put up.

Hollis sat hard in the chair by his bed, trying not to feel overwhelmed.

The past six years had been open warfare, first in just England, but it was so severe, so brutal, that they hadn't been able to hide it from Muggles. Within a year of the Second War starting, clips of the 'Shadow Terrorists' attacks filled the internet, bringing magic to the forefront of Muggle attention as they tried to explain it. They couldn't and, eventually, Wizarding kind had been exposed all over the world.

The war spread like wildfire from there. Dark wizards from nearly every country rose up, deciding to follow Voldemort's lead and starting wars against the Muggles, who had mostly allied with the Light to fight back. It had been a gruesome slaughter, Muggle machinery going haywire during battle because of all the magic flying around. Somewhere along the way, they had figured out how to get Muggle tech to work with magic rather than trying to force it to work around magic, but still, they were losing ground at the sheer brutality of the attacks.

What had started as a civil war had become World War III. The only countries not involved by 2000 were the Americas, protected as they were by the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the way they had developed, isolated for so long. Hollis didn't know how things worked in other countries, but Texas had said the reason the United States hadn't suffered any rises in Dark wizards was because when they came of age, each witch and wizard had to sign an oath that said they'd do their best to follow the law.

If they didn't, their magical signature lit up like firework – the larger the offense, the brighter it got – and their Aurors moved in, arresting and interrogating them. Depending on a variety of variables, they could be penalized with everything from a fine to jail time to being stripped of their magic completely and turned out into the Muggle world with a watcher to make sure they behaved and assimilated to Muggle culture properly.

When the civil war started in England, the Americas had all tightened their borders and it was extremely difficult to gain access without undergoing questioning, signing forms similar to the ones their eighteen years olds signed, and being tagged, so the government could find you at any one moment if you broke the law. Everything had gone well but some of their workers on this side of the pond had been killed and polyjuiced, which allowed Dark wizards to board a few Muggle planes. Once there, they accessed some other planes and attacked the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001.

America had been sent reeling from the attack and Severus had reported that Voldemort had hopes to invade the country soon – once they fell, it would be easy to spread to Canada and Mexico. Instead, he seemed to have woken a sleeping giant like the Japanese had during World War II.

A furious United States gathered their forces and thrown themselves into the war with all their considerable might, sending the best of the best into Voldemort's home territory – England. Canada, Mexico, and most of Central and South America had followed suit. They were all clever enough to see what Voldemort aimed to do after he toppled the U.S. and they wanted to cut him off before he destroyed their countries as well.

That had been nearly a year ago and things had become stalemated with the extra forces. But still, a full assault could and most likely would cripple them, if not outright destroy them. Hollis didn't know if they'd be able to withstand it, though she wasn't prepared to concede defeat just yet.

"Are you fighting with us, then?" Hollis asked, keeping her voice even as she looked at the floor, trying to think. She didn't want him to really, but she knew better than to think she could stop him, the same way she knew he preferred she wasn't in the fight but also accepted that he couldn't stop her, particularly since she was the 'face' of the rebellion and the only one who could defeat Voldemort.

"Yes."

More often than not, he had arranged to be otherwise occupied during major conflicts and limited the damage he could inflict during the ones he had to be in, making the Dark Army think he was a good dueler, but that his genius truly lay in Potions.

"What time is the attack?"

"Three a.m."

 _Of course he'd attack at the body's natural low point_ , she thought absently. Voldemort, she knew, also had Vampires in his forces and this would be their natural high point as nocturnal creatures. Thankfully, it wasn't a full moon and he couldn't use werewolves against them, though Fenrir and his ilk were still people to look out for.

Hollis checked her watch. It was seven thirty-two p.m. – they had less than eight hours to be ready. "Let them heal you and then join me in the War Office," she told Severus, standing, already mentally listing all the things they'd need to do.

He gave a short nod and she left, waving Anna in. Texas and Maine joined up at her side and she started delegating tasks. They had a plan for such an attack as this, procedures to follow, chain of communications to enact, and they had little time to spare. By two-thirty a.m., everything was in place, the other bases had been notified and stood ready, and everyone was in their place, alert and waiting for the attack.

They didn't have to wait long and Voldemort's Dark Army advanced boldly, not bothering with stealth. They had decided to pretend that they were unaware of the attack and had men scrambling across the rooftops, shouting orders, and alarms renting through the air.

Hollis stood in the command center and took a deep breath and released it, giving the order for the first assault. They were in the middle of a decimated London and they had rigged rings of buildings around them to go off at a certain signal. She waited until more than half his army – coming, as expected, from all directions – had crossed into through all of the rings and then set them off.

"Move out," she directed, following her own orders and heading for the nearest exit. They had made all sorts of tunnels and exits that led into their main building and around, most of their base being underground.

The surprised army was pushed back even further as the men previously running turned and started firing their strange mixture of weapons. Gun reports and spells shattered through the night air, and everything became chaotic. Screams and explosions became background noise, and the coppery scent of blood and the scent of everything burning quickly filled Hollis's lungs as she, Texas, and Maine cut through the ranks, searching for Voldemort. She choked on it and put a bubble head charm around her head, squinting so that the constant, almost strobe like lights from spellwork and gunfire didn't blind her. She kept her muscles taunt, ready for sudden movement at any given moment.

After what felt like hours but probably wasn't more than thirty minutes, she spotted Voldemort cutting through her army as easily as she cut through his and turned to Texas and Maine. They were looking back at her with solemn faces.

"It's been an honor serving with you lot," she said, just like she did every time she left them to confront Voldemort.

"Godspeed," they both replied, giving her a salute. She gave a nod and darted back into the fray, knowing they would stick somewhat close to her to help keep Death Eaters and Dark creatures off her back.

"I was wondering where you were," Voldemort called over the noise of the battle around them. Bodies littered the ground before him and she stepped gingerly over the young red head, Mary or Carrie, the one who had brought her the message earlier. She wondered briefly where Severus had gotten off to and sent up a short prayer for his safety. Out of everyone, she wanted him to live most.

Hollis didn't bother replying to him, instead choosing to fire off a stream of curses. He returned them and they went back and forth. It, she had thought more than once, was like a deadly dance between them. They circled and parried and came alarming close together before spinning away. They took hits here and there, lost ground there, gained here, seemingly forever locked in what felt like a stalemate that reflected the larger war conducted by them. For brief instances, they would appear to have the upper hand, but then something would occur – a spell from one of the States or the other fighters, an explosion nearby, stumbling over a body – and they'd lose that edge.

She always hoped that one of her men would take him out with a sniper rifle or something, but it never happened. Through some weird twist that she blamed on the prophecy, neither of them could be brought down by another magician – though they could certainly be injured by them as the thick scar along her thigh could attest – and gunfire never seemed to make its mark. If either one of them was going to fall, it would be by the other's hand, and it would take out-dueling them with magic.

Finally, when her arms were burning and her ankle twisted and throbbing, when the sun was peeking over the horizon and both of their armies were decimated, her spell – an overpowered, desperate Blasting Hex – hit him square in the chest.

Hollis wasn't sure who was more surprised as he was blown back, a gushing hole where his sternum and heart should have been, but it didn't matter just then. He was dying and all she had to do was stand there and watch.

When he stopped making that horrible gurgling noise and lay still, she put her wand to her throat, muttering, " _Sonorus_." She turned to face what was left of the struggling armies. "He's dead!" she yelled, her voice ringing through the streets. Everyone froze. "The Dark Lord Voldemort is no more!"

A tremendous cheer went up from the ragged remains of her army and, as she gazed about, she saw them take prisoners with a renewed vigor and the soon-to-be-prisoners trying to Disapparate before the crushing reality that they couldn't set in; their Wardsmith, Ohio, had seen to that.

She slowly started making her way back towards the base, her eyes flitting around, trying to find members of her army that were hanging on to their lives, but all she saw was death. Blood squelched under her boots and she forced the gorge in her throat down. After all the battles and things she had seen, one would think she'd be more accustomed to it, but she wasn't.

It, she couldn't help but think as she gazed around and remembered all the others that had been lost, was a pyrrhic victory. There wasn't more than a few thousand witches and wizards left in England if they were lucky and it was getting just as bad in every other country.

She spotted a flash of the U.S. military camouflage that her States wore and jogged over. Texas and Maine had fallen next to each other and she paused, crouching next to them. She knew they kept letters to their families in the sides of their boots and she tugged the slender envelopes out, determined to mail them. She looked at the addresses.

Texas' last name was Ramirez and Maine's was Jacobs. Hollis wished she knew their first names. Maybe, one day, she'd be able to find out.

"God bless," she told them both. She didn't know much about God, didn't want to know about him – how could some all-powerful being let something like this happen? – but they had both been Muggleborns raised in Catholic and Christian churches respectively, and neither had quite given up some of their ingrained habits, including their belief in God. They admitted they didn't know how magic jibed with what they had read in the Bible, but both kept Bibles in their quarters and recited Psalms 23 over the dead when they could.

For a moment, she struggled to remember the words, thinking it was something they would want said over them, a way for her to honor them and everything had done for her and this war, but then she heard Texas' smooth, honeyed accent in her head, murmuring the words. She started reciting them quietly -

 _'The Lord is my Shepherd;_  
 _I shall not want._  
 _He makes me to lie down in green pastures;_  
 _He leads me beside the still waters_  
 _He restores my soul;_  
 _He leads me in the paths of righteousness_  
 _For His name's sake._  
 _Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death_  
 _I will fear no evil;_  
 _For You are with me;_  
 _Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me._  
 _You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;_  
 _You anoint my head with oil;_  
 _My cup runs over._  
 _Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me_  
 _All the days of my life;_  
 _And I will dwell in the house of the Lord_  
 _Forever_.'

She had a moment of silence, crossing herself the way she had seen Texas do, and then moved on, tucking their letters into her left inside chest pocket. Suddenly overcome with the desire to find out where Severus was and if he was injured or not, she held her wand flat in her palm.

"Point Me Severus Snape," she whispered. It spun and she quickly followed it. It led her not all that far from where she and Voldemort had dueled, just about a block away. He was lying on the ground, surrounded by a multitude of dead Death Eaters, and completely still. A sudden fear seized her heart and she ran towards him, ignoring the sharp pain in her ankle, and dropped onto the ground next to him, uncaring of the blood soaking into her pants. "Severus?" she said, rolling him on his back.

He let out a hiss of air and his eyes fluttered open. They seemed to have trouble focusing on her. "Hollis?" he whispered, his voice laced with pain, though he was clearly trying to hide it.

"It's me," she said, starting to cast spells to figure out what exactly was wrong with him. She wasn't a Healer by any means, but she could get by as a Medic. It was one thing she made sure everyone on her base studied. A person never knew when a simple spell like a blood clotter could save someone's life or help them hold on long enough to hand them over to Healers.

One of his hands came up and lightly gripped her wrist. "It's no use," he said. "I've got maybe a minute and half."

A lumped formed in her throat. "Don't say that, just tell me what to do – I'll heal you," she said, looking around desperately. She could see all three of her Healers from here, but they were all preoccupied and she couldn't pull them away. As much as she valued Severus, she couldn't put him above her other men. It wouldn't be fair. She’d never be able to look at their loved ones if _they_ died while she saved Severus.

He sighed. "There isn't anything you can do. No cure. Just..." he trailed off.

"What?" she demanded when he didn't continue and let go of her wrist.

His hands unbuttoned the front of his robes and he reached in, pulling out a small, thin metal box. He handed it to her, his dark, expressive eyes fixed on her violet ones, that strange emotion shining bright and fierce in his. It made her lungs catch and she wished she had the courage to ask him about it before now. "All you have to do is tap it once for it to expand. It's fixed to your magical signature."

She nodded, pushing back tears, knowing they had less than a minute now. "Alright."

Hollis accepted the box and took his hand again. He sighed deeply again, still holding her gaze. Severus hated tears, he never knew what to do about them, and that was the only reason she wasn't bawling out her eyes right now. Severus had been the one constant in this war, the one person she knew beyond a doubt would survive until the end. It was one of the things they did best, him and her.

And Severus, no matter how far apart they were or how long they went without so much as seeing each other, had been her anchor. Over the years, she had come so far from her childish hatred of the man. She understood him far better than ever before and the same could be said of him. And, during that time, that respect, that admiration and understanding had shifted into something more. Something she didn't like naming to herself.

But now he was dying. Any hope she had never officially acknowledged, hope of the life after the war that she had scarcely let herself dream of, was going up in smoke, just like the buildings around her.

His hand tightened around hers for a moment. "Goodbye," he murmured. And he was gone, his last breath given, his hand lax in her grip.

"Severus?" she whispered. It seemed wrong to speak any louder. "Severus?" She didn't expect an answer, but oh God, did she crave one. Shakily, she reached out her hand and brushed a lock of his inky black hair from his face.

She didn't know whether to cry or find the closest living Death Eater and rip them to shreds.

She ended up sitting there, numb and disbelieving. Absently, she started straightening him out; mending the tears in his clothes, cleaning away the blood and grime, healing wounds, and re-buttoning his clothes. She transfigured a nearby hunk of stone into a simple black coffin and managed to place him in it. She'd be damned if he didn't get a proper burial.

But she couldn't bring herself to close the lid. Once she did, she'd be admitting that he was gone, she'd be locking him away. And she couldn't do that.

"Hollis," a soft voice said. She looked up into the face of Anna Athers and saw sympathy in her molten grey eyes. She was crouching in front of Hollis and looked between her and Severus for a long moment. Then she reached out a hand and closed the coffin. "He's gone, dear. I'm sorry."

Hollis numbly nodded. "Can I have a few more minutes?"

"Of course," Anna said, standing and walking away.

Hollis could feel the numb shock starting to fade and a heavy weight settled on her. It felt like she couldn't breathe and she leaned against the coffin, pulling her legs up to her chest. How could she lose him after all of this? How was she still alive and why was it him that died? It was a question that had plagued her since she had learned of her parents' death, but never had it seemed more important than now. What sick higher power could make this happen to her? After all she had lost, after all she had given to win this war, she was now being forced to accept that the only man she had ever loved was to be taken from her as well?

Her head fell forward onto her knees, ignoring the blood smearing on her forehead, and she struggled to keep her composure. Her men expected her to be grim or triumphant, not out of her mind with grief. She had to be strong. She could cry later.

Hollis never saw the golden glow surrounding them, never felt the world around them vanishing. What she did notice was the sudden feeling of hardwood flooring under her, the change of air – it was fresher, no longer reeking of sweat and smoke, blood and death – and the sudden cacophony of voices around her.

Her head jerked up in surprise, waving her wand and silently throwing up a shield before she even fully registered what was around her. She was on her feet a moment later and then it clicked, what she was seeing.

A bitter chuckle escaped her. "Of course..."


	2. Saying Goodbye

"Who are you?" Dumbledore demanded coldly.

Hollis sent out a small magical pulse, placing everyone in the room instantly and finding that there was a wall behind her. There were fifty-three people, pretty evenly divided between men and women. There were three large windows total, but they all lay behind the ranks of Order members, and a door off to the side, only behind four people, but she didn't know where it led and she hated turning her back on unknown people.

There was no way that this was a potion induced hallucination and she didn't know a single spell that could induce this kind of thing. She had never known some of the people in this room, had never seen their faces, so there was no way that her mind could use them against her.

Dumbledore raised his arm a little higher. "I will only ask once more – _who are you?_ "

"Don't presume to order me around, Headmaster," she said coolly, reassuming her usual air of control and intent. She hadn't always felt it, but her men had done better when she appeared to feel that way. "I'm Field Marshal Grey," she lied blithely, remembering to change her last name. She'd have to figure out a new first name later – Hollis was a bit too distinct.

Dumbledore stared at her queerly and she stared back evenly, conscious of all the other wands pointed her way, of the fearful, confused, surprised faces in front of her. And horribly, achingly aware of Severus' coffin just behind her.

How was he dead? Who killed him? What killed him? Had that emotion - that bright, fierce emotion - been what she always hoped it was? If he had lived, would there have been a future for them? She knew he hadn't seen her as James Potter's daughter in a long time, but had he progressed that far? She remembered the little tin in her hand and slipped it into the same pocket that still held Texas and Maine's letters.

"Field Marshal Grey?" he repeated slowly, watching her movements almost as carefully as she was watching his.

"Yes," she said. "Where am I?" she added after another moment.

"We'll ask the questions here, missy," Moody said. She noted that his nose was still intact and he had both of his eyes as she set her face into a hard mask her underlings had learned meant danger.

"It's _Field Marshal_ or simply Grey to you, Auror Moody," she said. Moody's face twisted into a sneer and he made ready to retort.

"Settle down," Dumbledore told them both. She did no such thing – defiance would cover her grief long enough to get out of there and find some sense of reality.

"Where am I?" she repeated firmly, her grip tightening on her wand. It was slippery with blood and she made a mental note to clean it as soon as possible.

Hollis kept her muscles taunt, ready for action. She shifted her weight to the balls of her feet, keeping her knees bent slightly. Her ankle throbbed, but she could heal it later and she shut out the pain entirely.

And then she realized having to move quickly would mean leaving Severus' coffin behind and she was torn. She severely doubted that they'd desecrate it in any way and they'd probably bury it properly, but she hated the idea of leaving him behind, left with virtual strangers. But, she decided, if it really came down to it, she'd have to. He'd want her too. He would say he had done too much for her to get taken out because she didn't want to leave his body behind.

Severus Snape was - had been - nothing but practical.

"You're in a safe house," Dumbledore said vaguely. She hadn't expected a clearer answer, but it still irritated her. She had grown used to getting her answers quickly; she hadn't had to ask twice in a long time. "Where did you come from?"

 _Answer for answer then_ , she thought as she answered just as vaguely, "A battle." 

She wouldn't have even said that much if wasn't for the state of her person. Dirt and grime covered her from head to toe, along with the blood and stench of sweat. Her closely fitted dragon hide coat and pants had mostly protected her, but there was a cut on her face that had, thankfully, stopped bleeding, but crusted to her face. She could feel it crack and flake when she shifted her features or spoke. And that didn't even begin to describe the blood soaked into her clothing, some of it hard and dry, the rest sticky and various degrees of fresh.

The overwhelmingly copper scent of all the blood gave her that gross metallic taste in the back of her throat and she wondered, briefly, how Remus Lupin was handling it with his heightened senses, but didn't spare the time to figure it out.

"What's the date?" she asked, knowing it was her turn.

"February 18, 1981," he answered quickly. "What battle?"

She didn't answer, trying to figure out if he was lying or not. Taking a small risk of their paranoid retaliation, she waved her wand, casting a Tempus charm. Thankfully, no one tried to curse her, as she doubted she could have reacted out of anything but simple lethal instinct just then.

He wasn't lying.

Her face must have given something away because Dumbledore asked, "What?"

Hollis looked up at him, wondering if she should tell him the truth. The implications of what had happened were sinking in and she knew she was holding the golden ticket to stopping the war in its tracks. But could she use it without making everything worse? She started seeing faces, each and every single person she had seen die, no matter how briefly. Flashes of battles and skirmishes and desperate duels came back to her. How could she justify _not_ doing it? How could she not risk it in the hopes of saving millions, of saving Texas and Maine and all the other states, of Mary/Carrie, of saving Severus from his awful, hard fate?

Hollis felt the peace that normally accompanied making a hard decision set in and she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and carefully.

How to phrase this?

She raised her wand at a mild pace, so as not to alarm them. "I solemnly swear on my magic that I am from July 14th of 2002 and that I will never knowingly help Voldemort by either action or inaction," she said evenly. A white flash of gold tinged magic flared out from the tip of her wand and confirmed her oath.

Disbelieving and shocked murmurs buzzed through the room and she could see Dumbledore thinking hard and quickly about what to do.

"Do you know how you got here, Miss Grey?" he asked after a long moment.

"Field Marshal or simply Grey," Hollis repeated. "Even General works."

"General Grey, then," Dumbledore corrected himself, a hint of something unreadable in his gaze. Everyone had instantly quieted to hear her answer and she simply shook her head. "Who is in the coffin?" he asked more gently.

She gritted her teeth, clamping down on the tears before they could rise. "A good man. You need to know nothing more than that."

Thankfully, Dumbledore left it at that. "What happened before you arrived?"

"That's a bit of a broad question. Clarify."

"Tell us about the battle please. Perhaps we can find a reason for your being here."

"Going into detail will take quite some time, so I'll sum it up," she started. "At 7:32 pm, I received word from S - our spy that Voldemort will be launching a major attack against the last of the Light bases in England. We had a plan for it, so I enacted it and alerted the other bases. At 2:57 am, Voldemort attacked, according to schedule. We waited for them to close in and then exploded maybe a third to a half of their forces and charged the rest.

"Understand that the Second War with Voldemort has turned into World War III. The Muggles were involved and everything. My generals, Texas and Maine – two of the many Special Forces and other military forces that America sent throughout the world – and I went in, seeking out Voldemort as per custom. He's been obsessed with killing me for some time, and I'm usually one of the few that can hold him back for any period of time.

"I found him, and we dueled until dawn or thereabout, when I got a lucky Blasting Hex in and he lost his sternum, parts of his ribs, lungs, and heart. I waited for him to bleed to death, then announced it to the rest of our decimated armies. The Light rallied and the Dark fell. Depending on how well the other bases did, this could've been the end of the war in England, so long as we kept out other Dark Lords. It wouldn't, of course, be the end of the war – we'd have to assist other nations as their wars spawned from ours – but that's a separate issue and now null and void anyway.

"After Voldemort's fall, I went seeking out what was left of my army and I found a close comrade who had been cursed, but hadn't yet died. It was incurable, he said, so I sat with him until the end and put him in the coffin. And then I was here. No one could have hit me with a spell without my seeing or hearing them, and it wasn't a latent curse of some sort. Voldemort only landed a few and they were all things I recognized, things I was willing to risk getting hit by in order to get in a better retaliation shot.

"So there's no reason for being here, but I'll let you know now that you'll have to kill me to keep me from changing the future," she finished, putting all her considerable will behind the statement.

Dumbledore looked conflicted. "Miss – General Grey, do you understand the dangers of time travel?"

She fixed her violet eyes on him – she had been observing the room, where many looked disbelieving. Her eyes had been green originally, but an improperly brewed potion to correct her vision had turned them violet. Mercifully, that was the only side effect and her vision was still properly corrected.

"Probably better than most," Hollis said, letting down her Occlumency shield just enough for him to see that she was telling him the truth without showing the memory itself.

Dumbledore studied her for a long moment. Eventually, he only nodded. "Very well. We'll do all we can to help you. What do you know about Voldemort?"

She smiled thinly. "It's more of what I _don't_ know, and I know _everything_ , from his birth until his death less than twenty minutes ago."

Dumbledore blinked and the Order shifted uneasily. "How?" he asked curiously.

"You told me some of it, our spy told me a lot, and Voldemort told me a fair bit himself," she said flatly. "As I said, he was rather fixated with killing me and he has a strange way of boasting to his so-called victims. Now, do you have a leak in your Order?" she asked Dumbledore. He nodded.

"You know who he or she is?" he asked in return.

"Yes," she said, having already spotted Wormtail in her peripheral vision. She had kept her stance and her muscles tight; it was an ingrained habit, a pose she could hold for hours. "May I deal with it?"

He contemplated it and Wormtail made his move then. She brought down her shield at the first sign of movement and by the time he was uttering the incantation for the blasting hex, she had darted through the first few ranks and stunned him. He hit the ground and she summoned his wand and bound him. She cast an additional spell that locked his Animagus ability.

"Holy sh – " she heard several people murmur in shock, all of them having automatically backed away from her, keeping their wands pointed at her. She twirled Wormtail's wand between her fingers.

"Check his arm," she ordered the small blonde man. He warily approached them, skirting around her quickly, and bent over Wormtail's left arm. When he had the sleeve pushed back, he swore and moved back so that all could see the inky black Mark burned into his arm.

" _No_ ," a man next to Hollis gasped. She didn't look at him – she didn't have to. She remembered that voice well. It was Sirius, which meant Remus, and James and Lily were nearby.

"Yes," she said evenly. "And there was no Imperius Curse. No torture or loved ones being threatened. He's a coward who was scared of dying, of losing the war, so he turned to Voldemort, offered to spy in return for his life being spared."

"How do you know?" a different voice, one she didn't know, asked lowly, sounding hurt and betrayed. She chanced a glance and met the hazel eyes of James Potter, her father. It was the first time she had seen him alive since before she was old enough to remember things.

"He told me one night, when I was thirteen," she answered back softly. "He was trying to talk Remus and Sirius out of killing him."

"Why you?" Lily asked. "Why were you there?"

Hollis considered how best to answer and then said, "I'm willing to tell you lot the story later, but not just now. He needs to be taken in and I...I have work to do."

She tossed the wand to Remus, who caught it with a heartbreaking expression and turned away, walking back to the black coffin. She stared down at it for a moment. Hollis had nowhere to go, no money to speak of, and hadn't the first clue about what to do with the coffin. He had to be buried, obviously, but he needed a proper resting place. A headstone. That kind of thing.

But she couldn't think there. There were too many stares boring into her back and she thought best with movement anyway. So she levitated the coffin, her heart giving an inexpressibly painful squeeze, and started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Dumbledore asked gently, his voice sad.

She didn't looked back. "I don't know. But I'll find you. Don't worry about that," she answered blandly, suddenly feeling tired. There were murmurs, some of concern, some of less kind emotions, but she ignored them and walked out of the room.

The door led to an average hallway and Severus had to float behind her instead of beside her. She didn't look at the pictures hanging on the wall, solely focused on the front door, which was a dark wood with stained glass in the center on the top half. It depicted some sort of plant and, once through it, she was on a wide, wooden porch that was covered. A rocking chair sat in one corner, along with a swinging bench.

The air was bitterly cold, especially in comparison to the muggy summer morning she had just left behind, and she was grateful for the heavy coat. Stars shone brightly above and the moon was only half full.

Quickly, Hollis tried to think of all the places she had been too, the places she could Apparate to, a place Severus would like as a final resting place. Only a couple stood out in her mind, and she stepped off the porch and touched the coffin. She had already deduced that wards would give her no trouble and she prepared to Apparate.

"Wait!" she heard a woman call out behind her. She turned and saw Alice Longbottom running out of the house after her. She was pulling on her great coat, her gloves and scarf in hand.

"Yes?" Hollis asked.

Alice hesitated for a moment and Hollis had a few moments to notice how much she looked like Neville. He had had her nose and ears, her eyes and a hint of her in his face. And they looked the same when summoning up their courage and determination.

"I want to come with you," she said. "You're going to need a place to stay and someone who knows what's all going on. I mean, you don't look very old, so you're probably not as familiar with this time as you could be. Well, you might be, but..." She shrugged as she trailed off, a little pink faced but her brown eyes still determined.

Hollis turned it over quickly in her mind. "I'll accept your company and help under one condition." Alice gestured for her to continue. "You swear that whatever you see or hear, you keep to yourself unless I give you express permission to the contrary. It's not harmful to anyone – just...personal."

Alice nodded and held up her wand and made her oath with the addition that she would uphold it only so long as innocents weren't harmed and it wasn't self-harming either. "Where to first?"

Hollis sighed. "I'm going to bury him," she said. She waved her wand, cleaning off her dirty hand, and then held it out to Alice, who accepted it. Her hand was warmer than Hollis', and a little larger than hers as well. Hollis twisted.

With a crack, she landed them on top of a hill, just beneath a towering oak tree. A river was frozen along at the bottom of the hill and the oak above them stood slightly apart from the rest of its brethren, at least twenty yards from the rest of forest around it.

She gently lowered the coffin and looked around, her breath like puffs of smoke.

It was almost exactly the same as the only other time she had come here with Hermione, after Ron had abandoned them and before he came back. It was a silent place, mostly, the animals having been quieted by her sudden appearance, but she thought Severus would like it. It exuded peacefulness and he was unlikely to ever be disturbed.

Before the grief could overwhelm her, she set to work, waving her wand and thawing the earth at the base of the tree. She then shifted a load of earth off to the side. It only took a couple of more waves for the grave to be deep and perfectly rectangular. With a wave to set up spells to keep animals away, she set off into the forest to find some good sized wood or a boulder to transfigure into a headstone. To keep from dwelling on what she was doing and for whom, she started plotting in her head, taking satisfaction every time her many plans ended with Voldemort's painful death.

It didn't take long to come upon a good sized log and she levitated it out of the forest and set about transfiguring it into a simple headstone that she thought would be more to Severus' understated style. Her eyes blurred as she tried to think of what to inscribe on it and Alice, who had been staying at a respectful distance, came close.

"Who was he?" she asked softly, crouching next to her.

"Severus," Hollis said, taking slow, deep breaths. Alice said nothing but Hollis could feel her surprise. Steadying her hand, Hollis started engraving what she wanted on his headstone.

 _Severus Snape_  
_Who Died as He Lived_  
_Fighting to End the Dark_

 _'It matters not how strait the gate_  
_How charged with punishments the scroll_  
_I am the master of my fate_  
_I am the captain of my soul_.'

"It's beautiful," Alice murmured.

Hollis nodded and slowly turned to the rest of her task – actually burying him. She stood and went around the grave, to the other side where his coffin rested and stood next to it, looking down at it.

Why hadn't she done anything? Why hadn't she found the courage to speak up, even just once? Or, if she was particularly bold, steal a quick kiss? Why hadn't she done _something_ , anything to find out if he felt the same way? Why had she left it like this? It would have been painful, so very painful, if he had died and there had been affection there – or if she had been rejected – but anything had to be better than standing here, not knowing and full of regrets.

"So much for bravery," she murmured, levitating the coffin carefully and lowering it. She tossed in the customary handful, Alice doing so as well, and then smoothed over the rest with her wand. Alice placed the headstone at the head of the grave, nestling it between two roots of the tree. It looked beautiful and ethereal in the moonlight. "I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner," Hollis told the grave in a whisper.

If she stayed there another minute longer, she was going to lose what little control she had left. She could feel it pressing down on her, the tears welling up, and the throbbing ache in her chest that encouraged her to just sit on the ground and cry her eyes out, cry until there was nothing left, until that numbness came back.

"Ready?" Alice asked.

"One last thing," Hollis said, pulling out the slender silver chain from around her neck. The pendant was simple - a small black heart encased in silver – but it reminded her intensely of Severus now. Black and silver were the only colors she had ever seen him in possession of – and the silver only coming from his pocket watch and the more recent dusting of it in his hair. With a wave of her wand, she made the pendant into a permanent port-key to his grave and then tucked it back under the collar of her coat. "Now I'm ready," she told Alice, who held out a hand. She took it and Alice twisted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the user who corrected my spelling in the poem!


	3. Observing

They had landed on top of another hill, apparently the boundary of the wards, and she could see the twisting path that led up to the old fashioned manor. From what she could see, it wasn't as ornate as Hollis remembered the Malfoy place being, but it was still elegant and classic, a place most people would love to live in. What grounds she could see in the light of the half-moon were gorgeous and, thinking back, it was no surprise that Neville had developed a love of nature here.

"Come on. Frank will be getting antsy," Alice said kindly. Hollis nodded and they set off down the path. After several feet, she felt a shiver as Alice let her through the wards.

Tall trees lined the path and cast shadows all around them, making Hollis edgy. She hadn't spent much time above ground, in open space, at night in quite some time. Unfortunately, they would never let her go on reconnaissance missions; it was the one thing her men ever threatened to mutiny over.

Frank, whom she had spotted briefly at the meeting, had cleared the path of snow and ice, so at least she didn't have to worry about that.

"So..." Alice said after a couple dozen yards of silence. "The future?"

"Yep."

"Did - did you know my son, Neville? I think he would have been about your age."

Hollis smiled faintly. "He was in my year, both of us Gryffindors. One of the best people I knew."

"Knew? Oh..." Alice said, sounding like her fears had been confirmed.

"I'm the last of my year, the last of any year within three of mine."

There was another long moment of silence and then, "What was he like?"

"He was the best guy friend any girl could have," Hollis reminisced sadly, thinking of her bear of a friend. He had been tall and well-built but as gentle as a butterfly, never harming a single thing unless it was in a fight, and even then, he tried to make it as swift and painless as possible. The day he had died, several Death Eaters had cornered him but couldn't quite get him. His end had been throwing himself between a five year old hostage and a curse. "You know, the one whose shoulder you could cry on and who you trusted to never to tell anyone else why. He would never ever take advantage of anyone who was vulnerable. He was as kind as could be, quiet, and startlingly perceptive. A brilliant fighter once he got a little confidence in himself."

Hollis wished he was there with her now. He'd let her sob herself dry, comforting and standing guard all at the same time. He wouldn't judge her for her love for Severus; he'd see past the snark and dry humor, he'd see all the good in Severus – he _had_ seen the good in him once he got over his fear of the man. And he wouldn't give her any ridiculous platitudes about her loss.

"We raised him right," Alice murmured, more to herself than Hollis. Hollis didn't have the heart to let her know otherwise. "I'm glad."

Hollis looked down at herself. She should probably at least make an attempt at looking decent. She started murmuring spells, mending her knee length coat and her leather pants. She'd mend the tights underneath later and she could only heal her various wounds in better lighting. Hollis spelled away the dirt and blood and cast a freshening charm so she didn't reek quite so badly.

They closed in on the house and Hollis got a better look at it. It was three stories of grey stone, rather Gothic with spires and turrets, and large glass windows that she thought might be stained glass. It was a little difficult to tell in the low lighting.

They went up the massive stone steps and Alice tugged the heavy oak door open. Frank had a baby propped on his hip and was pacing in the large foyer, murmuring to the child. He looked up with such an expression of concern, Hollis was sharply reminded of Neville. He truly had been an even mixture between his parents, though he had clearly taken after his father as far as size and build were concerned.

"Everything alright?" he asked them both, though his warm brown eyes gravitated more toward Alice than herself.

Alice nodded and held out her arms. Neville leaned towards her, smiling and babbling incoherently as he held out his arms. "Hello precious," she greeted, her voice light and loving. Neville patted her face and Alice turned towards Hollis. "Neville, this is one of your future year mates, Grey - though I think she might be lying about that." She said it with a friendly smile and knowing look, so Hollis only smiled slightly.

"Hullo, Nev. Nice to see you again," she told the baby, who blinked his serious brown eyes at her, and reached out, stroking his soft cheek with the back of one finger. Then he surprised her by reaching out towards her. Hollis looked between Frank and Alice. Frank looked surprised, but didn't interfere and Alice was smiling.

"Go ahead," Alice encouraged. "You can hold him."

Carefully, she took the tiny boy that would grow into a massive, brave man. Hollis couldn't recall the last baby she held, but thankfully, Neville was old enough to hold his own head up and she just had to keep him from falling. Just like he had with Alice, he patted her face with one chubby hand and laid his head on her shoulder, completely at ease with her.

" _You're a good boy_ ," she murmured in Russian, brushing some hair away from his forehead. Neville looked up at her, bemused in his sweet little innocent way. " _You're not going to lose your parents this time and you're not going to die so young. You're going to have a bright future and a lovely family, who are all going to adore you and see you for brilliant, beautiful person you are._ "

Neville babbled something in reply, his little fist waving in the air and she laughed a little, her throat thick. He reminded her sharply of what their future had become - they had been such innocent little beings, and because of one man's fear of death and his hate, their lives had been consumed in war - and of what had been lost. 

~~~

Frank watched Grey carefully. Alice had clearly decided to trust her and Frank didn't doubt her judgment, but he couldn't help his concern. She had arrived so suddenly, her back pressed against a _coffin_ , and had been covered in so much blood and dirt. Her face held a wolfish like wariness throughout the whole meeting, her body clearly tensed and ready for sudden movement – which had proven useful when dealing with Pettigrew.

Frank still couldn't believe that little Peter had been a traitor. Dumbledore had Moody take him in and the meeting had quickly broken up after that. James had been devastated and Lily had taken him home while Remus had taken a furious Sirius somewhere.

He hadn't wanted Alice to go with Grey but had allowed that _someone_ should keep an eye on her, help her if need be, and she _did_ need a place to stay. As far as Frank knew, one did not walk into a battle like what she had described with a satchel of gold or anything of that nature. She'd be broke, homeless, displaced, and – based on her age – probably not very familiar with what was going on specifically. She'd need help and they had plenty of space and money to give.

He quickly noticed that, in the time he had been waiting for Alice and his new house guest, something had changed in Grey. She was less...authoritative and dangerous and now just looked like a gaunt, twenty-something year old with too old violet eyes and premature worry lines in her forehead, and lines around her mouth that suggested she spent a lot of time frowning. That, and she was cleaner.

She was a little awkward with Neville, murmuring something to him in what sounded like Russian, but she seemed very fond of him. Alice _had_ introduced her as a future classmate of his, so she probably was.

Neville, typically, babbled something in reply and her face tensed. When she laughed, she sounded like she was going to cry.

"Here," Alice said, holding out her arms and taking Neville. "Let's get you a bath, some clothes, and a bed, alright? Unless you want to eat first?"

Grey shook her head. "I don’t eat during the first twelve hours after a fight. It never stays down," she said quietly, shifting her weight, her violet eyes flicking around again. He had seen the same gaze on several of the older Aurors and those who had lived through Grindelwald's war. It was a little strange to know that she was assessing his house, taking in exit points, weapons, and defensive areas.

"Alright. Well, Frank, will you show her to the blue room while I put down Neville and gather some old clothes for her? I know I have some stuff from before my pregnancy that should be close to fitting you," Alice said, giving her frame a quick once over.

Grey wore a tight coat that he could tell was made of dragon hide, like her pants. It was practically skin tight, hugging her extremely thin torso and arms, flaring at the hips and coming down to her knees. Frank was positive no one should be that thin and that Alice certainly never had been, but she was a slender woman, so it would be kind of close and they could shrink it down for Grey.

"Alright," he said, starting to turn and waving for her to follow him.

"Thanks," Grey suddenly blurted. He glanced back and was surprised to see a light blush on her very pale face. There were dark rings under her eyes and Frank, once again, wondered how Neville had reached out to her so easily. He was so shy of everyone and, by all rights, Grey should have frightened him. "Um, for letting me stay here tonight and for coming with me to..." She trailed off, looking at Alice, her shoulders tensed.

Alice's face clouded and she nodded. "Can – may I tell Frank?"

Grey chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes flicking to Frank, who stood still, wondering what it was she had asked Alice not to tell him. Grey's eyes studied him intently and she gave a small nod.

"Thanks," Alice said. "And you can stay as long as you need or want. Now go on, you two. I'll be there in a minute."

Frank turned away again, glad to know he wouldn't be up wondering about the mystery of whatever it was Grey was secretive about, and led the way up one of the main staircases.

The foyer had checkered black and white marble floors, portraits of his ancestors hanging on the walls, and two curved staircases that hugged the walls and met up in the middle. To the right and left were drawing rooms and straight ahead, underneath where the staircases met, were two large double doors that led straight into a ball room.

Frank took the left staircase, turning left into the hall and heading for the blue guest room on the west end of the house. It had a beautiful view of the large pond in the back yard and gardens that had been cultivated by Longbottoms for generations.

Once, he glanced behind to be check that Grey was following him, and was startled to see her only a few feet behind him. She walked so silently he hadn't been sure if she was even there.

"Field Marshal is pretty high ranking, isn't it?" he asked. He wasn't familiar with Muggle military ranking, but it sounded good.

"The highest," she answered softly. "I'm the – I _was_ the head of the Light Army of England."

He looked back again, surprised. But her face was perfectly serious and she seemed to be standing straighter in remembrance of her former position. It was the same thing she had done when speaking with Dumbledore and Moody. "Really?" he asked. "I mean..."

"Shouldn't it be someone older?" she filled in wryly, raising her brows a little. He nodded sheepishly. She shrugged. "It's a complicated story...Let's just say that I was a Someone before the war got its momentum and when several prominent leaders fell, I was who they turned too. I didn't know much about battles and the like, but I learned on the job. Had a lot of Aurors on hand by then and they helped considerably. By the time they were gone, I was pretty good at it and the States – that's what we called the American forces in our base – were there, and Texas and Maine became my generals and they were strategic genii."

"Texas and Maine?" he questioned. He knew they were states, but he hadn't known people actually named their kids after them.

"They never fully disclosed their names because if Voldemort had gotten a foothold in America, their families would have been at risk. It's what he did to the Aurors who opposed him – tracked down their entire family and slaughtered them – so they just went by their ranks and the states they hailed from instead," she said.

"Oh," he said, turning back to face down the hall and continuing. They were only a yard or so from the door. He wondered what that felt like, falling from a position like that in a weird twist of magic. To everyone she would now meet, she would be little more than a pedestrian, not a war leader to be looked up and listened to.

"You know," she said, sounding like she was thinking out loud. "I'm a little relieved that I'm not Field Marshal anymore. It's stressing, you know, being in charge of everything. It's not just conducting battles – it's making sure your base doesn't freak out and mutiny, that the other bases don't sell out, that the supply lines can still find a way to get through. It's keeping every single Light person alive and fighting to the best of your abilities, particularly since there is – was – so few of them left..."

Frank hadn't been sure of what exactly it was that she did, but it sounded incredibly stressing. He didn't think he could have done it, especially being thrust into it at a young age and being so inexperienced. She must have been one hell of a somebody if they turned to someone like her in a war against _Voldemort_.

They arrived at the white door with a gold handle and he opened the door, going in and glancing over everything. It was as neat as ever and smelled fresh. The carpet was a thick dark blue and plush, the kind that a person's feet could sink into. The queen sized four poster bed had a dark cherry frame, and there were matching nightstands, dresser, and wardrobe positioned strategically around the room. The blanket was midnight blue with silver embroidery and the sheets a light shade of silvery blue, and the pillow cases a slightly darker shade. A matching upholstered bench sat at the end of the bed, a large fireplace directly across from that. The bay window on the far wall had pale blue lacy curtains that were pulled back, showing its beautiful view.

The house-elves obviously knew they were coming because the covers were turned back on the bed and the fire was lit. The en suite bathroom door was open as well and the light was on. He could just see the large mirror and it looked fogged, indicating they had drawn her a hot bath as well.

"Well," he said. "I can't say I know what that's like, I'm just one of the lowest Aurors, but I don’t envy you your former position. And here we are. Your room until further notice."

Her eyes, of course, flickered around in that way of hers.

"Thank you," she repeated sincerely.

He gave a nod, silently resolving to ward her door at least. He knew an old family spell meant to keep an eye on heirs in their younger years. It would alert him to different things – nightmares, which he'd be surprised if she didn't have, but it let him know how terrible it was on a scale of one to thirty-five; if they left the room and the general direction they had gone; if they got sick, and all kinds of other things of that nature, and it was a very subtle charm. He figured it could come in surprisingly handy for an unknown house guest of somewhat dubious origins.

He trusted her oath – she would _not_ be helping Voldemort – but there was a difference between not helping _him_ and not hurting _them_. Alice seemed to really like her, but Frank would take no chances.

"Do you like it?" Alice asked, appearing some moments later. She was holding a small pile of clothing.

"It's beautiful," Grey said. Frank once again noticed how different she was compared to the figure at the meeting. Alice smiled, pleased, and Frank found a moment in all his worries to appreciate his wife's warm smile. It was the first thing he had noticed about her all those years ago.

"I'll let you ladies be," Frank said. "If you need anything, Grey, call for Minny. She's one of our house-elves." Grey nodded. He turned and left, tugging the door shut behind him a little and wandlessly placing the charm on it.

~~~

Alice let her eyes trail her husband's fit figure as he left. She hoped Neville would have his strong build over her slight one.

"He seems nice," Grey ventured.

"He is - rather like what you described Neville to be earlier," Alice said, bringing her gaze back to their unexpected visitor. "What did you say to him? Neville, I mean, earlier..."

"That he was going to have a better future than what he did," she said simply.

Alice knew that was the clearest answer she was going to get. She also knew it was more than that – there were too many words for it to be simply that – but she let it go and set the pajamas on the bed.

"Now," she said, starting to lay them out. "There are a few different sizes, so if you take off your coat, you can just tug the shirts on and we'll see what's best."

Grey complied and started unbuttoning her long coat. She wore a fitted black shirt with three quarter sleeves underneath. It had a scoop neck and, because her black curly hair was pulled up, Alice could see the tips of some sort of black tattoo across her shoulders. There was also a complicated shield knot just below the nape of her neck. There were a couple of more on her arms, one disappearing up her sleeve, one written in beautiful script in black ink on her left wrist, and another on her right wrist, which seemed to be a series of dates with letters and slashes beside them. They disappeared up her sleeve as well.

And then Alice saw the blood from where some of her wounds had soaked the shirt. The flickering light of the fireplace didn't give the best lighting, but she could see at least one place on her side that the dragon hide and shirt had clearly been cut through and that the wound was only half, hastily healed.

"I didn't know you were still wounded!" she exclaimed.

Grey shrugged. "I can heal them. How about I do that, take a bath, and try all this on when I get out? I'll return what doesn't fit in the morning."

"Do you need anything? Bandages? Potions?"

"Muscle relaxer, if you have it. Otherwise, I'm not going to be able to move in the morning."

"I'll have Minny bring you some when you finish your bath," Alice said decisively. Grey nodded her thanks and Alice took her leave. She went to the kitchen first, though she knew Frank would be up waiting for her in their room. She wanted something chocolate and she had to speak with Minny anyway. It only took a few minutes and then she was heading back up the stairs with a mug of hot chocolate. Instead of turning left, the same direction as Grey's room, she turned right, towards her own room and Neville's, which was just off the side of her and Frank's room.

Frank, as predicted, was sitting at the edge of their bed, waiting. He looked a bit surprised to see her so soon though. "That was quick. Don't girls normally take longer?"

She gave him a wry look. "Hilarious. And she only took off her coat. She's still wounded, Frank," Alice said, and then told him what she had seen. He looked troubled, but not surprised.

"And what did you ask if you could tell me about?" he asked after a few moments of silence. She was sitting on the bed next to him now and he held her hand.

"It was about who was in the coffin," Alice said slowly, thinking of all she had seen and suspected. "Before agreeing to let me come, she had me swear that I wouldn't tell anyone what I saw or heard without her permission. I agreed so long as it didn't harm innocents and it wasn't self-harming. She just wanted it kept really private, because all she did was Apparate us to this beautiful hill. It was Severus Snape in the coffin and she buried him underneath an oak tree that overlooked a river. She made a headstone for him," Alice said, then recited what she had inscribed on it. "I think they were really close because she was really upset. I mean..." She struggled to think of how to describe it.

Grey hadn't looked very upset, keeping a tight lock on her expressions, but just before she had figured out what to write on the headstone, she had had tears in her eyes and it had taken a couple of long minutes to get herself back under control. And then there was her whisper of ' _So much for bravery_ '. The way it was said, the brief flash of regret on her face, had made it seem like, maybe, Grey had felt a little more than just friendship for Snape. It was an odd thought – Snape was her age and Grey the same age as her son – but she supposed that love could happen anywhere. The strangest bit was that it was _Snape_. For as long as she had known him, he had been mean, cold, snarky, and jaded. Not exactly someone girls fell head over heels for. But Grey probably knew something about him that they didn't.

"I think..." she restarted, Frank having waited patiently for her to speak, "I think she was in love with him. I've seen people when they lose friends – I've lost a couple myself, we all have – and I've seen people who've lost people they were in love with. I don't know Grey that well, but if I had to pick, I'd say it was the latter that I saw briefly on her face tonight. And I don't think she ever told him. She looked regretful and said 'so much for bravery' just after we buried him. She was a Gryffindor; she told me."

"Wow," Frank murmured, his gaze distant and thoughtful. They lapsed into silence, Alice sipping on her drink and watching the fire. "I put the same spell on her door that we use on Neville's," Frank suddenly said.

"What?"

"I used the same spell," he repeated. "I thought it would be useful for monitoring her. I know she's against Voldemort, but that doesn't exactly equal being on our side. I know, I know," Frank said quickly when she started to protest. "She seems like she's on our side and you like and trust her and I'm not doubting you. I'm just...being cautious."

Alice sighed and nodded. She understood where Frank was coming from – she really did – but she had such a good feeling about Grey that she kept forgetting that she could be a danger.


	4. Nighttime Revelations

Hollis lay in the cool bed, staring up at the dark blue, rich velvet canopy. She had nearly fallen asleep in the tub, but sleep eluded her now. Why? She wanted nothing more than to sleep, to lose herself in her nightmares. She didn't want to think about Severus' death, about his eyes when he died, about burying him under six feet of dirt

Abruptly, she remembered the tin in her coat pocket and she sat up, waving her hand, and a small ball of light floated up, hovering just below the roof of her canopy. She pushed aside the curtains and reached out for her coat.

It was gone.

For a moment, Hollis couldn't think of why, but then remembered the house elves. They would have taken it to better clean and mend it. It was just what house elves did.

"Minny!" she hissed, the enormity of the house making her feel like she should be quiet, rather like the effect a library had.

A small elf with huge grey eyes, an oval face, and crooked nose appeared. "Miss has called me?"

"I need the things in my inside left coat pocket," she told the elf. The elf gave a nod and popped away, quickly popping back, two letters and the tin in her hands. She handed them to Hollis. "Thank you, Minny. That will be all," she said, laying aside Texas and Maine's letters.

Minny gave another nod and popped away.

Hollis lightly tapped the tin with her wand and it expanded to be about six inches wide, nine inches long, and an inch tall. It was, expectedly, all black with a silver _'SS'_ engraved on the lid. Carefully, she popped the lid off and was surprised to find envelopes standing on their edges, filling the space completely.

She pulled out the one closest to her and found a simple date marked in black ink in terribly familiar spidery script. It dated back to early 2000. She pulled out a few more, all of them seemingly in chronological order and she made sure to put them back in their proper place. The last one had _July 14, 2002_ written on it. She put it back and looked at the first one.

After a several solid minutes, she pulled open the lip. It hadn't been sealed and she decided the tin must have been heavily warded against anyone that wasn't her. She pulled out the smooth parchment shakily and had to take several deep breaths to steady herself enough to read.

_Dear Hollis,_

_In hindsight, I should have known._

_Only the child of Potter and Lily could have gotten under my guard and into my heart._

_Damn you._

_Well, no, not really. Of course I desire your safety, for personal reasons as well as more altruistic ones, such as the real need of you defeating Voldemort. Him, God or whoever can curse with my warmest applause._

_Perhaps I should explain how this all came about, but I couldn't tell you. I only realized it myself in the middle of meeting – not the safest place for such a realization, but I was able to suppress it before it got me into trouble. I don't remember what exactly I was thinking about, but it had something to do with what could happen should we lose this war and I felt a sudden, sharp pain, because the only way we could lose, the only way our side would stop trying, is if you died. Even if you stood alone, you'd still stand, wouldn't you?_

_And it was unbearable all of sudden. This is not the first time I've thought of this, but it's the first time is hurt this much._

_Maybe this is a passing thing. Maybe I'm lonely and because you're the only person who actually knows anything of import about my past that isn't a Death Eater or a Dark Lord, I've turned to you. Maybe._

_But that horrible sixth sense that has kept me alive implies that it isn't just that. And I have no idea what to do about it, thus the writing of a letter I will never send. Not because it's dangerous, though it most certainly is, but because I can't have anything distract either of us. I can't risk being distracted, I can't risk you being distracted. And I can't have personal feelings compromise our decisions – should my death become necessary, it is better that I have no personal ties._

_Besides, there is nothing to suggest you even begin to return my regards and I have too much pride to just bare my heart without further investigation. I'm neither a foolish Gryffindor nor a sentimental Hufflepuff. I am Slytherin and all that it implies. You know that better than most._

_\- SS_

Hollis almost couldn't understand what she was reading. She had read it three times and the letters were still incomprehensible. Surely, she was reading something other than what she thought she was. One more read confirmed that she was and she dropped the letter on top of the tin and felt her careful facade of control shatter.

With a huge, gasping breath, she burst into tears. She curled up against the pain, forgetting that she was a witch for a moment and using a pillow to muffle her sobs.

How could the both of them be so damn foolish and cowardly? How could he let all that time pass without so much as a single word – how could _she_? Her mind cruelly replayed every encounter she had had with him since early 2000 – there were so few of them that she remembered each perfectly – and hindsight proved to be as clear as everyone said it was. There _had_ been a hint of increase in his regard, a softer way of speaking, a warmth that hadn't been there previously in his eyes, a change she had noted, but had not even began to connect until those last horrible moments.

How could she have been so _blind_? How could she live knowing all this and knowing at the same time that she'd never have an opportunity to fix her mistakes?

The pain, the horrible regret, and the deep, overwhelming sadness felt much like the time when one of the walls of Hogwarts had collapsed on her, only ten times worse. There was no one to dig her out of this, no charms to lighten the load and let her aching lungs breathe, no spells to ease the pain – there was no hope. Just her and the all-consuming grief she had tried and failed to bury, to hold back.

Never again would she see that warmth, that bright and fierce emotion. Never again would she be planning something and receive word that Severus was in the Medic wing, being surly as ever and demanding her presence. Never again would she see that faint hint of a smile when she said something particularly witty, the smile slightly marred by the thin pink scar that went from one corner of his mouth to his ear lobe. Never again would he lightly rest one hand on her shoulder like he had when she had received news of Neville's death.

Never again would _her_ Severus walk the earth.

And _god_ , oh god, how could she bear it? How had she born it thus far? How had she not suffocated or drowned? How was she going to keep from doing so _now?_ It was so heavy, so painful – death looked enticing. The only thing that kept her from even considering to seek it out was the war. Suffocate though she might, she could not and would not let his sacrifice, his years of suffering, go to waste.

Hollis didn't hear the pop of Minny's return, didn't hear her distressed calls or her declaration that she'd fetch the Master and Mistress for her. All she knew was her grief and all she felt it was it devouring her.

~~~

"Master! Mistress!" a squeaky voice said, abruptly interrupting Frank's dreamless sleep. He groggily opened his eyes, squinting at Minny. He couldn't have been asleep for long and he wondered why she was waking him. If it was Neville, they had charms that would have alerted them before the elves could.

"What?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "What is it?"

"It's Mistress' guest!" Minny said, looking very worried. She was twisting her long fingers and was shifting her weight, as though anxious to be doing something.

"What about her?" Frank asked more clearly, sitting up and feeling Alice doing the same.

"She's hurt – she is crying and needs help," Minny reported.

"Alright, Minny," Frank said. "I'll go see to her. You've done your job," he reassured his house-elf, slipping out of bed. Minny gave a quick curtsy and popped away. "You can sleep, Alice. You know Minny exaggerates."

Alice looked hesitant and he expected to hear protest, but she surprisingly nodded and laid back down, though it didn't look like she'd be going back to sleep until he came back. With that in mind, he started down the hall.

As he neared the door, he listened carefully, and he couldn't hear anything. Still, Minny wouldn't have come for just anything, no matter how dramatic she could be, so Frank silently cracked the door, opening it just enough to peek in quickly.

A small ball of light illuminated Grey's shaking frame and he could now hear the muffled, full bodied sobs, the kind people cried when they lost the people dearest to them. Frank's heart twisted painfully in his chest, his mind automatically going to Alice and he opened the door more, stepping into the room.

He didn't really know what he was going to do until he had reached the bed and sat on the side, reaching out a hand and lightly setting it on her shoulder. She jerked in surprise and twisted to look at him, her violet eyes bloodshot and already swelling. He opened his arms a little, silently offering comfort and she hesitated for only a moment before latching onto him.

He held her tightly, one hand lightly rubbing her back in what he hoped was a soothing manner, and tried not to cry himself. He had only ever heard one person in this much pain and that had been years and years ago, back when his father had died and he was only five. He had only heard his mother cry over it once, but the memory had stuck with him, fading very little over time. She had sounded much like this.

For what felt like ages, Grey cried so hard that Frank wondered if there was ever an end to this, to her pain. But then it started lightening and soon, he realized that she had sobbed herself into exhaustion and was sleeping. He had propped himself back against the pillows and headboard and now gently maneuvered Grey so that was laying against the pillows instead of him, and then slipped from the bed, straightening her out and starting to pull the blankets up.

A piece of paper suddenly caught his attention and he stilled. It rested on top of a narrow, slender tin, an envelope lying discarded next to it. She must have been reading this when she started crying. Perhaps it was even what had started it.

The lettering on it was too tiny to make out and he was filled with the sudden desire to pick it up and read it.

Had it been any other circumstance, perhaps he wouldn't have, but just then, he let his curiosity get the better of him and reached out slowly to pick it up, keeping an eye on Grey the whole time. He picked it up, tilting it so he could see it in the dim blue-white lighting.

_Dear Hollis,_

_In hindsight, I should have known._

_Only a child of Potter and Lily could have gotten under my guard and into my heart..._

"Oh my god," he murmured to himself as he read the rest of the short, single paged letter. He folded it up immediately afterward, putting it back in its envelope. He didn't know where it went in the tin and didn't want to find out. He felt ashamed enough as it was for invading her privacy that way, so he set it on top and placed the lid over it. He put it and her wand on the nightstand, next to the half full vial of muscle relaxer and two other letters, addressed to two families in America.

Alice said that she thought that Grey – _Hollis Potter, your wife's goddaughter_ , his mind told him – hadn't told Snape how she felt and now Frank thought that Snape hadn't either and now Grey was suffering from grief and her regrets, especially now that she knew the truth about what he had felt. His affection couldn’t have faded, not with that many letters in the tin.

He gazed down at Grey, who looked so young and tragic in her sleep, for a long moment. As he had noticed earlier, she was painfully thin, only hard, lean muscle keeping her from being just skin and bones, and scars of all varieties covered what he could see of her shoulders and arms. She had picked an old tank top of Alice's to wear to sleep, and her bruises and black tattoos were also thrown into sharp relief by the light. The large one across her shoulders looked like some kind of Celtic bird with its wings spread, and there was the shield knot Alice had noticed. Down her right arm spiraled another tribal/Celtic-esque tattoo that was all curves and sharp points. He couldn't see the inside of her right arm to see the dates – he wondered what kind of events they marked; deaths? marriages? births? battles, won or lost? – but her left hand was tucked under her cheek, showing the script. He tilted his head and peered closer at it, recognizing it as three different Latin proverbs -

_Consilio et Animus_   
_Melior morior bellatro, quam ago profugus_   
_Dum spiro, spero_

Which, roughly translated, meant -

_By wisdom and courage_   
_Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees_   
_As long as I live, I hope_

Frank couldn't help but shake his head at the sheer incredulity of it all. What had life done to James' bright little girl, the apple of his and Lily's eyes? By all rights, she should have grown up disliking Snape as much as Sirius, James, and – to an extent – Remus did. But somehow, instead, she had become a Someone who became a Field Marshal in World War III. She had fallen in love with Snape, spy extraordinaire, and she had him cruelly taken from her before either of them mustered the courage to tell the other how they felt, only to find out about it in a letter he had written her – if he remembered what she said correctly – a little over two years ago in her timeline. He didn't know if he could bear it, had he been her. He'd die without Alice, and from the stress of everything else…he'd crack. How could one person bear it all?

His earlier suspicions about her dreams came back to him and he murmured another old spell, this one more commonly used by parents everywhere to give their kids a nightmare free night. Her face relaxed a little and he was glad that he could do that much for her. He tugged the covers up all the way as well.

" _Finite Incantatem_ ," he murmured, waving his wand at the light. It winked out and he left the room, shutting the door and leaning against it with a sigh. "You poor girl," he whispered, waving his wand and cleaning and drying off his shirt.

How had she held it together through that whole meeting? Snape had only just died according to her story and yet she had been so fierce and composed. He would have fallen apart the second Alice died.

 _Maybe_ , he thought, the idea just occurring to him, _that was one of the reasons she had been chosen as Field Marshal – because she can see past her own grief and remain in control…Or one of the traits she gained while on the job._

Slowly, he walked back to his room, stopping in Neville's to check on his baby boy, then continuing on. Alice, as he predicted, was awake and sitting up.

"That took quite some time," she said, looking worried.

He went around the bed and hugged her as tightly as he could without hurting her. She hugged him back without question and they stayed like that for a long time, though he eventually had to let her go.

"She was crying," Frank told her miserably, sitting one the edge of the bed beside her. "There was a letter, a tin full of letters with Snape's intials on the lid. I read the letter, the first one, I think, after she cried herself to sleep – and she's the Hollis Potter of the future, Alice, _Hollis Potter._ Your goddaughter. And he, Snape, that is, said that he should have known, that only a child of Potter and Lily could have gotten under his guard and into his heart. He loved her back, Alice, and neither of them said so, just like you thought, but now she knows and _Circe_...It was awful, so terrible listening to her cry like that..."

He ran a shaky hand through his head, feeling an unexpected lump in his throat again.

"That's so horrible," Alice said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears too. He went back to his side of the bed and they curled up together under the covers. "What are we going to do?" Alice asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for one, she's going to see the truth on our faces in the morning – neither of us are that good at pretending – and she's probably going to remember you being there," Alice said practically. "So how are we going to handle it? She's my goddaughter, though I think she's technically older than me now. For two, I want to help her. I did before all of this came out, but definitely now. Do you think she'd let us? I can't say I know much about being a Field Marshal, but it sounds important – "

"I asked; she said it was the highest rank there was. She was in command of the Light Army of England, all of it. She ran everything, though she had generals to help – two states...Texas and Maine, I believe," Frank informed her.

"Well, then, I was right. A person like that isn't going to want to depend on others, I don't think," Alice said.

"We'll tell her we know," Frank decided. "You're right, we can't hide that. But we'll promise not to tell anyone else unless it becomes necessary. And we'll figure out a way to get her to let us help."

 _We have too_ , he thought. He couldn't just let her walk away, not now. He knew who she was, some of what she had suffered, and had held her while she cried. Even if little Hollis wasn't basically his niece, he couldn't have let Grey walk away. He was a sucker for tears and she had trusted him enough to let him stay there. He had no doubts as to whether or not she could have forced him out of the room if she had really wanted.

Alice made a small noise of agreement and sleep uneasily reclaimed them both after nearly an hour of lying there, turning the whole situation over in their minds.


	5. Telling Tales

Hollis woke up just after dawn like she usually did, having surprisingly slept without her usual dreams. She still felt bone tired, though, and stared up at the dark blue canopy. She couldn’t find it in herself to muster the energy that it would require to get up and go about her day. Eventually, alarm registered and she felt adrenaline shoot through her system.

Where was she?

She pushed herself out of the bed, muscles protesting, wondering where her usual pajamas were. Her eyes swept the room, landing on the nightstand and she froze. Her wand was there, along with two letters, the tin, and half a vial of muscle relaxer.

For a moment, it didn't make sense, though she reached out and snatched up her wand all the same. But then it started coming back and she sank heavily onto the bed. Severus was dead. He had given her the tin. The Order meeting, burying him, talking a little to Alice, holding Neville, her brief conversation with Frank...Pieces of the night flashed through her mind and she stared at the tin.

The tin had letters in it, and she had read the first one. He _had_ felt _something_ for her, something that could have developed into love. And she had cried, she had cried so hard she was surprised that something hadn't been snapped or strained. But she had let the letter fall on top of the tin, so where was it now? Had an elf put it back?

Fervor lighting in her bones, she shot out a hand and snatched up the tin, fumbling a little as she tugged the lid off of it. It was there, laying neatly on top and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

_Frank_.

The memory came back crystal clear. Frank had come to check on her or something, had found her bawling her eyes out, and he, like Neville would have, had held her, had silently done his best to comfort her without hollow platitudes. He must have seen the letter when she had finally passed out, exhausted by everything. He had most likely been the one to put it back – but had he read it first? Had he figured out who she was? Neville wouldn't have read it, but Frank wasn't Neville and he didn't know her the way Neville had. She was a stranger to him, a potentially dangerous one. She would have done it had she been in his place.

She supposed the only way to find out was to go find him, but she couldn't gather the energy just then. Her body had slumped the moment she had been sure that the letter was safe.

But she could feel the urge to curl up and cry herself back to sleep creeping up on her again, so she forced herself to stand. It was a new day and Voldemort was still conducting his war on the Wizarding world. She resolved to leave her grief to the shadows of night, where she wouldn't be interrupted, and to try and stick as close to her usual routine as she could in the daylight hours, at least. Didn't people always say routine was good?

So what was the first thing she did each morning? Work out.

Finally remembering the muscle relaxer on her dresser, she took half of what was left. Too much would make her groggy and she only wanted enough to soothe her muscles enough to jog. She wouldn't actually work out today – partly because she didn't want to hurt herself and partly because she didn't have a place to work out in – but a jog was perfectly manageable.

The elves had taken her clothes during her bath, but they were returned, neatly laying out on the bench at the end of the bed. She tugged them all on and slipped her feet into her boots. She could feel the pain in her muscles easing as the potion worked it's wonders and she mentally winced at the sharp reminder of Severus – one could not think of potions and not Severus or vice versa. Potions had been Severus' passion.

She opened her door quietly, unsure of where Frank and Alice's room was in relation to hers, and slipped out into the hall quietly. Her boots were noiseless and she headed down the hall, going down the stairs and through the foyer.

An elf startled her by popping right next to her the moment she touched the door handle.

"Good morning, Miss Grey," Minny said, her grey eyes wide and a little worried.

"Good morning, ah, Minny," Hollis said. The elf barely reached the middle of her thigh.

"Where is Mistress' guest going?" the elf inquired.

"For a quick run. I'll be back," Hollis reassured her. The elf looked a bit hesitant, but predictably bowed and let her go. She stepped out onto the porch and breathed deeply, inhaling the frosty morning air. A fresh layer of snow had fallen in the night and she started jogging slowly, not stopping to stretch.

By the time Hollis had returned, showered, and spelled her clothes clean, Frank and Alice were both up and sitting down to breakfast. Minny dragged her there, insisting that she had to eat and that Alice and Frank – well, 'Master and Mistress' – wanted to see her.

She entered, feeling a little awkward, but covering it by scanning the room. Five large windows with the heavy drapes pulled back lined the far right wall and a long table stretched to fill the space. They sat at the far end, where there was two other doors that led somewhere.

"Good morning," Alice said with a bright smile.

"Morning," Hollis said, slowly making her way down towards their end of the table. She made it appear like she was looking at the tapestries that hung on the walls, but she mostly stalling and assessing. Frank, predictably, sat at the head, Alice to his right, and Neville perched in a high chair between them.

"Sit," Alice said, gesturing to the seat across from her, the one on Frank's left.

Both of their gazes lingered on her for a moment longer than they would have yesterday and she sat, meeting Frank's stare evenly.

"So you read it," she said.

He blushed and nodded sheepishly. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

She shrugged lightly, leaning back in the high backed, heavy old chair. "Don't be. I can't say I would have done it differently. What I want to know is what you two plan on doing about it."

They blinked and traded looks.

"Well, we were mostly just planning on helping you. I mean, we were before, but especially so _now_ \- " Alice said, giving her a peculiar look.

"Wait," Hollis said, interrupting her. She got the feeling that she was missing something, that there more to what Alice was implying. "Why?"

"Well, now that I know you're my goddaughter - "

" _What?_ " she said, feeling her insides go cold. "You were my - ?" She let out a breath of irritated, shocked laughter.

"You didn't know?" Frank said, confused.

"No, I didn't. No one told me," she said, shaking her head. How could they have kept that from her? She had a right to know. But maybe it was one of those things Dumbledore was trying to shield her from. After all, who told someone 'hey, you're parents were murdered, your godfather thrown in prison for it and the murder of thirteen Muggles, and your godmother and her husband were put in St. Mungo's because they were tortured into insanity – have a good year at Hogwarts!'?

"Why not?" Alice asked, her face growing grim. "What happened? To us, and to the Potters, Remus, and Sirius as well. They would have told you about us."

Hollis eyed them. It'd be helpful to have someone who knew some of the gritty details, someone she could trust. And they'd probably agree to swear to keep it a secret. But did she want to put that on them? _Could_ she put that ugly knowledge on their shoulders?

She shook her head again. "No," she said. "It doesn't matter. I'm going to change it. It'll all only have happened in my mind, then, like a bad acid trip."

"Like a bad what?"

She waved a hand. "Never mind. Let's go back to the main point of the conversation. You want to help me?"

"Yes," Alice said. "In whatever way we can."

Frank nodded his assent.

"You can eat, you know," he added, gesturing to the platters of food around them. It kind of reminded of the set up at Hogwarts – there was a jug of juice, bowls of warm, fluffy eggs, bacon, toast, and various jams.

Hollis took a piece of toast to satisfy them and hesitated, then spoke. "Alright. I'm going to need help, so it might as well be from you. First things first...I'm going to need a bit of gold."

"How much?" Frank asked. "What for?"

"As Aurors, it's probably best you don't know," Hollis hedged. "Plausible deniability..."

Frank and Alice traded another look, this one longer and more meaningful. Hollis wondered if all couples had the silent communication thing going for them. Ron and Hermione, even before they had gotten together, had had it down pat. Of course, Hollis could do the same thing with them, but they had a different, special connection. They had even died together.

It had been back in April of 2001, when their surveillance team had been ambushed. There had been a leak, though they hadn't known it until it was too late, and the small eight person team never had a chance. Hollis and the rest only found out about it that evening, when the sole surviving member managed to make it back. He told them all he could while the medical team worked on him. He hadn't made a whole lot of sense, disoriented by the blood loss, but she gathered enough to know that they had all gone down fighting rather than be captured and tortured, so there wasn't a reason to plan a rescue mission. The man had died only a short hour later.

Severus had been there for that one, thankfully, and got her out of the Medic wing before her control snapped. He escorted her to her room, where she cried and raged and threatened all sorts of things. Skillfully, he avoided anything her temporarily wild magic made explode, and he talked her down, helping her plan how to catch their leak.

They never actually had to put it into effect – the moment the leak, a quiet witch named Tiffany, had heard that the ambush had killed Hollis Potter's two best friends, she fled without taking any of her things. They had gone through her quarters and found a half burnt letter that had confirmed it.

Hollis had passed word along to the other bases, warning them against her, but they never heard word of her again until some five months later. In the middle of a duel between them, Voldemort had informed her about how he had let Bellatrix have her as a punishment and how the witch hadn't lasted even an hour in Bella's hands.

"Is it going to hurt anyone?" Frank asked, snapping her out of her memories.

"Most likely not," she said. Right now, her biggest concern was getting a background. If she had background, she'd blend better, be able to get a job, and that sort of thing. She would also need clothes and things of that nature. But she wouldn't guarantee that it wouldn't; there were too many variables to do so safely, and while she could have just lied to pacify them, she figured it was best not to start off that way.

"Are you going to get clothes? You'll need some," Alice said.

"Yeah, that's one of the first things I plan to do. You can't walk around in all leather all the time. Particularly not the same outfit. You'll stand out, look suspicious," Hollis said with a nod.

"Alright," Alice said, like that settled the matter. Hollis could tell they were both a little wary, but willing to trust her, and she was suddenly filled with warmth for Neville's parents.

She started putting a little bit of jam on her toast, thinking of how unlike them she was. She never would have been able to trust someone just like that, not anymore. As she started eating, her appetite was roused and a plate and cup popped up in front of her. She smiled slightly as she put a bit of eggs, bacon, and another piece of toast on her plate, then filled her cup with juice.

Part of her was tempted to indulge – it was the first time she didn't have to eat on rations (magic only did so much when one had very limited supplies) in ages – but she withheld. She'd get sick if she pushed it too much before getting used to it. However, she felt a small, temporary burst of happiness at the fact that she wasn't on rations anymore. From here on out, she could pretty much eat all she wanted.

She wouldn't – that wouldn't be advisable if she wanted to stay in peak condition – but she would definitely work on gaining some weight. She was underweight for her height and age, true, but she more concerned about how it would give her more muscle, give her more energy to burn.

Then it occurred to her that Severus wouldn't be eating anymore, wouldn't need energy to burn, and her short-lived happiness died quickly. She was extremely careful not to show it, and ate what was on her plate while listening to Frank and Alice make small talk. Frank went to work when it was over, and Alice had the day off. It turned out that Neville had a playdate with little Hollis.

Hollis had no idea how _babies_ had playdates – what were they going to do? Drool at each other? – but agreed to go with Alice when asked. She was curious about Lily and the people she needed to talk to about a background wouldn't be up at this time of day anyway. And Alice said that they could go by Diagon afterwards, and she could get her gold then. Besides, if she was lucky, James and the others would be around and she could go ahead and get the Pettigrew story over with.

At ten, Alice, Neville, and Hollis all flooed to the Potters and Hollis found herself, not for the first time, glad she has mastered magical travel.

Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius were all in the living room, little Hollis being held by Sirius, who was trying to get her fist out of his hair. There were a couple of windows to Hollis' left, two doors – one directly across from the fireplace, most likely leading to a kitchen, and one to the right, probably heading outside – and a staircase that led up to the rest of the house. Hollis hadn't ever been inside of their house on Godric's Hollow, but she was sure that this was it.

The room was decorated in light, airy colors that were still warm and inviting, making the space comfortable. The floors were a dark hard wood, the sofas and armchairs neutral shades of green with brown accents, and there was a dark coffee table in the center of the room. On either side of the sofa, there were matching end tables and the arm chairs had been situated so that the whole thing was set up as a half circle in front of the fireplace.

James and Lily were on the sofa with Sirius and Remus was in the armchair closest to Sirius', on Hollis' right. And they were all looking at her with various expressions of surprise and mild wariness. Hollis kept her face unreadable, glancing between them neither too quickly nor too slowly, and finally resting her gaze on her younger self, who now had a piece of Sirius' longish hair in her mouth and was gumming on it. Her green eyes were big and beautiful in her pale, chubby face and her black hair curled against her scalp, probably longer than most babies her age.

"Grey, wasn't it?" Remus asked first, breaking the somewhat awkward silence. Alice had already moved and sat in the free arm chair, setting Neville's diaper bag on the floor, and keeping Neville in her lap.

"Yes," she said.

"Got a first name?" James asked with a slightly friendly smile.

"Liz," she said. It was an old nickname that Lavender and Pavarti had given her, which made it more likely she'd remember to respond to it.

"Liz? Short for anything? Good morning, Alice," Lily said, smiling at her friend and apparently snapping out of her surprise. She reached over and tugged Sirius' hair from baby Hollis' mouth. "Don't eat your uncle's hair, Hollis."

That was going to get confusing quickly if Hollis wasn't careful.

"Just call me Liz if you're not going to use Grey," Hollis said. "I was actually hoping to find you all here. Do you want to hear about Pettigrew or is it too soon?"

They all immediately tensed. Alice didn't react because Hollis had warned her about the probability of her bringing it up. Alice agreed that it was best to let them hear it now rather than later, when they had made their peace with it and all her story would do was drag up old, bitter memories.

"Well," James said, running his hand through his hair like Hollis had seen him do the one time she broke into Snape's Pensieve, only now the move was less arrogant and more just a simple habit. "I guess it's probably best to get it over with..." He looked around and the others soberly nodded.

"Very well," Hollis said, conjuring up a hard wood chair that McGonagall would be proud of. She twisted it, so she was straddling it backwards, her forearms resting on the back of the chair. She'd keep a great deal of it secret, simplifying the story as much as possible, but she'd try and keep it as honest and clear as possible. "I guess the beginning of the story starts this year, on Halloween. Voldemort had targeted the Potter family – you three – because of some half-baked prophecy and you had chosen Sirius as your Secert-Keeper. But last minute, he had the brilliant idea to switch Keepers – make Pettigrew the real one but let it slip that it was Sirius, the logical choice.

"You kept it from everyone, including Dumbledore and Remus. But Pettigrew betrayed you two – " She gestured to the Potters, who looked pale. " – to Voldemort and he attacked on Halloween. You both, ah, died, and Voldemort lost his body, but your daughter survived with little more than a scratch." They looked relieved to hear it, though still very pale. Sirius' eyes were glittering dangerously and Lupin looked even more exhausted than ever.

"Sirius immediately put it together and went after Pettigrew, cornering him the next day on a Muggle street. Pettigrew shouted, _'James and Lily, Sirius? How could you?_ ' and blew up the street, killing thirteen Muggles. In the chaos, he cut off his finger and escaped into a nearby drainage ditch as a rat. He's an Animagus, Alice, and God only knows how he managed it without killing himself. Sirius, not exactly in his right mind, started laughing hysterically. Little Peter had gotten the jump on him. And that's when Aurors and Hit Wizards showed up. He was thrown in Azkaban without trial – the war was over, the Potters were dead, and their only child heralded as a hero. He was laughing when they found him and he said that he had done it – what did they need a trial for?"

She paused for a moment, giving them a minute to absorb that and ask questions if necessary, but they didn't say anything.

"Fast forward some years into the future, to the summer before my third year, right before I turned thirteen. I lived in the Muggle world during the summers, with some relatives, and I heard about a criminal, a Sirius Black, escaping from a prison – " She half expected one of them to interrupt about Sirius being the first to break out of Azkaban, but they remained silent. " – though I noticed they didn't say where. I didn't know who he was, but I found out from my friend's father that he was a really dangerous criminal, though they didn't tell me what he had done. But I was thirteen and it didn't concern me, so me and my two friends boarded the train and ended up in a compartment Remus, who was asleep.

"We knew he was our newest Defense professor because the last one had used a broken wand to try and Obliviate a student and it back fired, so he lost his memory completely. Anyway, Remus – Professor Lupin, as he was then – slept most of the trip, only waking up near the end. He was definitely the best teacher we had up to that point, and the only one who didn't have a psychotic bone in his body.

"Fast forward again until the end of the year, and me and my two friends, Bill and Jean, were walking back from Hagrid's when this huge dog came bounding up. He ended up catching my friend by the leg and dragging him under the Whomping Willow and, somehow, Bill's leg broke. Me and Jean raced after him, of course, and when we got up into the Shrieking Shack, Sirius was there too. It got kind of chaotic and Sirius wasn't making much sense and then Remus showed up, having seen Bill getting dragged off from a window.

"It got worse when Remus seemed to know Sirius, whom, it had been rumored, had been Voldemort's right hand man, and they kept mentioning someone named Pettigrew." She let her voice sound distant, as though she was back in her memory, but really she was keeping an eye on them. They looked much the same as ever – pale, horrified, and very interested. Even the babies were still and silent. "Eventually, Remus calmed everyone down enough to toss their wands to us so they were more or less defenseless, and then had Sirius tell the story because Remus didn't know the whole thing himself.

"Sirius explained about the Secret-Keeper switch and how, the previous summer, when the Minister came by for his annual inspection, he had stopped by Sirius' cell. Sirius had asked for the paper, saying he missed the crossword puzzles, and the Minister gave it to him. On the cover was Bill's family, who had been featured for winning some money in the Ministry draw or something, and on Bill's shoulder, was his pet rat, who just happened to be missing a toe. Sirius instantly recognized him as Pettigrew and started plotting how to get out of Azkaban. Hollis was in school by this point, a Gryffindor like me and my friends, which meant that Pettigrew would have an easy time getting to her. So he broke out and made his way to Hogwarts.

"Finally, Remus talked Bill into handing over the rat, who was freaking out, and they made him transform back. He tried to escape, but they cut him off and demanded answers, which is how I learned of all of this, and he pleaded with them to spare him, to understand. They refused and he turned to us, appealing to Bill as being a good pet, which was creepy beyond belief and Bill looked nauseated and in extreme pain from his leg. Then he turned to me and Jean because we're girls and supposed have sympathy. And it worked, kind of, we talked Sirius and Remus into turning him in and letting the Dementors have him, so that Sirius' name could be cleared."

She shrugged and fell silent.

"That's it?" Sirius finally said. "What happened? Did he get thrown in Azkaban? Did he get Kissed? What about me? Was I cleared?"

Hollis sighed. She had known they were going to ask, but she hadn't known what she was going to tell them. She couldn't lie to them – what if she forgot about it later or said something contradictory to it? – but she didn't want to explain _everything_ either.

"No," she finally said. "There were some...extenuating circumstances, and he ended up escaping again. He went on to help give Voldemort his body back and started the Second War, which turned into World War III. He died, though, in '97, after I called in the life-debt he owed me for talking Sirius and Remus out of killing him. But without him and because of the corruptness of the Ministry and then the war, Sirius wasn't ever cleared. But after a certain point, it didn't matter anymore anyway."

"Damn," Sirius swore. "I didn't get thrown back in Azkaban, did I?"

"No."

"Well, there's that, at least..." Sirius muttered, looking most dissatisfied.

"It's a better fate than some," Hollis agreed with another shrug.


	6. Reactions

"Wait," Alice said. "If Peter's an Animagus, shouldn't we tell the Aurors?"

"No," Hollis said, inspecting her nails. They were clipped pretty short and she had charmed them to be neon pink weeks ago, remembering Tonks' with fondness the whole while. There were only flecks of it left and she suspected they'd be gone before the week was out.

"Why not?" Remus asked a little suspiciously.

"I cast a spell on him last night that locked his ability," Hollis said, looking away from her nails. Perhaps, now that she had more time on her hands, she could get them properly done. That would be nice, she mused. She had never really had them done before, but she could remember Hermione talking about going to get them done with her mum, and Lavender and Parvarti doing them for each other.

Well, she'd probably wait until after the war was over to do those kinds of things; war was, after all, a dirty business, and she never really knew what she’d be getting her hands into.

"Who taught you that?" Lily asked curiously.

"Severus," Hollis said, keeping her voice perfectly even and indifferent. Her eyes flickered to Alice's face for a second. Alice's brown eyes were warm wells of sympathy for a moment, but she managed to blanket the expression before anyone else caught it.

"You were on a first name basis with that git?" Sirius said, his lip curling with disdain.

" _Sirius_ ," Alice hissed as Hollis shoved down her temper and worked to keep her face flat.

"What?"

"He's a good man, Sirius Black," Hollis said coldly. Alice winced. "And yes, he is - was - one of the better friends I had."

"Was?" Lily said.

"Well, it's not like the Severus I knew is around, is he? And he won't be the same - World Wars tend to change people," Hollis said, shrugging again, tightening her Occlumency shields against her emotions.

It wasn't healthy, and it wasn't advised, but it was the quickest and easiest way to get herself under control. She wouldn't tell anyone else anymore of her secrets than necessary; she wouldn’t let on that Severus had been much more than a friend to her. They didn’t need to know, and she didn’t want them too. That was the sort of secret you told a friend, and she couldn’t make friends out of them, not now and possibly not ever.

"I see," Lily murmured. "I'm sorry."

Hollis gave another shrug - how many of those could a person give in a day? - and they fell silent for a long moment.

"Thanks for telling us," James eventually said.

"You're welcome. Now, I'm going to...go," she said, standing and vanishing her chair.

"Where?" Alice asked immediately.

"I don't know. Maybe scope out some prices or whatever," Hollis said, then half-smiled, half-smirked in a way she knew was not altogether comforting to Alice or the others. "I just realized – I can walk down the street without a single person recognizing me. Better yet, I can do it without a single Death Eater knowing who I am – or what I can do and what I know about them."

_That could be extremely handy and possibly even fun_ , she thought, the scenarios circling through her head.

"Don't go about asking for a fight," Alice said, looking worried.

"I never ask for fights," Hollis said.

"Somehow, I'm not at all reassured," Alice said dryly. "I'm being serious, Grey. Keep a low profile. Frank would probably bail you out if you end up getting arrested, but they've got a lot of weight politically and so on. You could get in serious trouble for assaulting them."

"You've got a fair point, I admit," Hollis allowed. By the time she had been deeply involved, politics had very little to do with anything. She had never had to worry about that before. "Though not all of them have the clout Malfoy and his ilk do, and I only have to worry _if_ I get caught. That and with the dirt I have on them, they really wouldn't want me on a trial or whatever. And, honestly, I never said that's what I'm going to do. It just happened to occur to me and I voiced it."

"Is this one of those plausible deniability things?" Alice asked suspiciously.

Hollis smiled slyly because she could, because it was a natural reaction to make herself more mysterious than she really was. "Enjoy your playdate. I'll be back around noon. Is that alright?"

Alice sighed, but said, "Yes, that'll be perfect."

"May I come with?" Sirius surprised her by speaking up. "I have more questions..."

"Can't say I'll answer them, but you may accompany me," Hollis said carefully, immediately wary. No one else said anything, so she gestured for him to lead the way and nodded to the others, giving them a half wave.

He stood and circled around Remus, who was looking up at him with a veiled, thoughtful gaze, and headed for the door on the right. He wore dark jeans that were worn in all the right spots, a black shirt that hugged his lean but muscular frame, and a leather jacket that accentuated his broad shoulders and aristocratically handsome face. His hair was pulled back by a leather throng and his boots were scuffed.

Hollis could now better understand why Sirius had the reputation he did as a ladies' man. Just about every girl she had known would've be dying to get a piece of him. Perhaps she might have, had she been someone else, had she met him in this time like a normal person. If she hadn't known Severus as well as she had.

As it was, all she could really think was that his skin was too tanned and his grey eyes too pale. And his nose didn't have that little crook in it from being broken and healed Muggle style when he was ten. And there wasn't a thin scar across part of his face from one of Bella's knives when she finally went completely crazy and ended up having to be put down like a mad dog.

The brisk, cold air that rushed in when he opened the door snapped her from her comparison. She squinted against the light reflecting off the snow and closed the door behind her.

"So where to?" Sirius asked, approaching the motorcycle he had clearly came on. It was beautiful - sleek and a deep scarlet red, the kind with the metallic shine to it. But Hollis had no intention on going anywhere on it.

"I've got to see an old friend," Hollis said, walking past the bike and heading for the church cemetery down the way.

"Uh...okay," Sirius said, starting after her. His footsteps seemed abnormally loud in the quiet. There was no one out, which Hollis didn't particularly mind. "So who is it we're going to see?"

"Ignotus," she answered.

"Who?"

"Peverell. He's a dead, Sirius. I'm visiting his grave."

"You have nearly two hours of time to do whatever you want and you're going to spend it in a graveyard?" he asked incredulously.

Hollis felt faintly exasperated as she crossed under the kissing gate. "I never said I was spending the whole two hours there and the dead should be remembered."

She headed towards where she remembered her ancestor's grave being, scanning each headstone carefully. Sirius followed along, deliberately too silent, though she didn't acknowledge it. Finally, she reached Ignotus' headstone and traced her fingers over symbol of the Deathly Hallows. She had once thought they were going to be the solution to the war, but they hadn't been. Still, it was incredible knowing that they were real and within her grasp, should she want them. Her own cloak was, as always, in one of the hidden pockets inside her coat, so that, at least, had made the jump back with her.

"I think James is one of his direct descendants," Sirius mentioned, breaking his silence.

"I know," she said.

"How?"

"For one, most of our kind have one of the three Peverells for ancestors and for two, I knew Hollis. She's a cute baby," Hollis said casually. She waved her wand like Hermione had ages ago and made a wreath of white roses, laying it on Ignotus' grave.

"What's she like?"

"I don't know," Hollis said, and thought perhaps it was the truest thing she had said all morning. "She'll be growing up with her parents and godfather this time, won't she? She won't see all the things that we have. Won't have to go through the same things. Might not even have the same friends. She'll be shaped differently into – I hope – a happier and more innocent sort of person."

Sirius looked troubled by this and mulled on it on their way out of the graveyard and half way back down the street. "I see your point," he finally said. "But what _was_ she like? In your time?"

"Alive, which was more than most could say," Hollis said simply. "I'm not describing her further. You'll learn all about her as she grows up, the way you should."

"Did you tell Alice about Neville? You two seem pretty close for people who only just met," Sirius said, watching her intently.

"A little bit," Hollis said. "But that was a different situation."

"How?"

"It just was," she said. For one, she had been very exhausted and not in the best mental state. For another, she had just _buried_ Severus, something Alice was there for. And Alice had come after her, insisting on helping – though it was probably also to keep an eye on her. Maybe she had felt like she owed Alice something. She didn't know exactly why she had answered Alice.

"Fine," Sirius said, not happy with that either but apparently dropping it. "Where are you going now?"

Truthfully, she wanted to go see Severus' grave, but she felt enough people knew about it as it was. She wasn't that interested in prices of anything, honestly, and she could get most of her clothes in the Muggle world, where they were cheaper and had better variety. Plus, everything else was bound to be cheaper than the sky high prices from when she came from. So what _was_ she going to do?

"Is that all the questions you had?" she asked Sirius, a small idea coming to mind. No one said she had to stick with Sirius the whole time. If she wanted, all she had to do was take a step back and activate the portkey on her necklace.

He considered it and she mentally sighed.

She was right. He asked at least a hundred questions, of which she answered –

_"Did you know us well in the future?"_

_"Well enough."_

And -

_"Were you part of the Order in the future?"_

_"No."_

_"Why not?"_

_"The Order fell before I got out of Hogwarts and then the Light Army formed up and I became a part of that."_

_"Do you ever give detailed answers?"_

_"Very rarely."_

_A pause, then – "You must have said something to get Alice and Frank to trust you. What was it?"_

_"Very little and none of it your concern."_

_"Did you know their son?"_

_"Yes."_

_"How much older were you than him?"_

_"It's rude to ask that of a lady, Sirius."_

By the end of it, he was thoroughly exasperated with her lack of information and she was kind of amused. A bit irritated with his persistence, but amused all the same that she could dance circles around him mentally. How far she had come from the small thirteen year old she used to be...

Technically, she didn't have to stay and endure his interrogation, but she didn't really have much else to do and visiting Severus' grave would only make her miserable, make her ache more, and as much as she wanted to see it, to be any kind of close to him, she didn't want to do that to herself when she had other things to focus on and a loose schedule to keep.

She ended up leading him all over Godric's Hollow during their chat, investigating and assessing the place. They had run into a few people, but hadn't really acknowledge them other than to nod. It was a nice little village, not too different from Hogsmead, really. Nearly the same set up, but with Muggle additions – like the church that housed so many witches and wizards in its graveyard. The irony made Hollis shake her head.

Texas and Maine would've liked it, though.

Hollis would probably always prefer London, however. So many places to hide, back alleys to use to lose pursuers, and a million people to get lost in if you couldn't get to the alleys. There were always people around and yet, if it was your preference, you were completely alone at the same time. Or at least, that was the way it was before the War decimated most of it.

Near the end, she looped back around, timing it so that at precisely twelve o'clock, she was at the Potter's gate.

" - favorite color?" Sirius was saying.

"What?" she said, realizing that she had started turning him out.

"What's your favorite color?" He looked perfectly serious and she frowned as they went up the path to the Potter's door.

"Why?"

"Curiosity."

"Curiosity killed the cat," she informed him, raising her brows a hair. They reached the door and she had her hand on the knob.

"But I'm not a cat, am I?" Sirius said.

"No, you strike me more as the dog sort," she said, smirking faintly. He blinked, looked unnerved for a moment, then suspicious.

"You know, don't you?" he asked, narrowing his grey eyes. Hollis had flashback to Anna Ather's very similar grey eyes and mentally sighed once more. She had always been fond of Anna – she was very business-like, but compassionate and she had a quick wit when there was time to spare for it.

"Know what?" she asked blandly, then twisted the knob and went in.

~~~

Alice looked up when the door creaked open and Grey walked in, looking indifferent. Sirius followed her in, his face like stone, and his hand shot out, clamping around her arm and yanking her hard so that she was facing him.

"Wha - ?" Alice started to say before the rest of it stuck in her throat. In a few movements too quick to really understand, Grey broke free of his grasp and managed to get Sirius on his knees, his arm twisted up and behind his back, and his face was scrunched with pain. Her face was ruthlessly cold and she looked ready to snap his arm at any second.

For a solid minute, time seemed to stop and they all stared at her.

"Don't touch me like that. Ever," she said very softly as she released him. He scrambled away from him, his eyes wide and frightened. Alice didn't blame him. "It's a natural reaction to defend myself – you're lucky I didn't dislocate your shoulder or worse," she continued, her violet eyes flickering around, gauging their expressions. Alice felt sympathy well up, replacing her own fright. _Something_ had obviously made it her automatic response and Alice doubted she had meant to hurt Sirius or scare them.

Grey turned then, without waiting for a response, and walked back out the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

"Damn," James muttered.

"You're telling me," Sirius said, picking himself up off the floor and rubbing his upper arm and shoulder.

"What were you two talking about?" Lily asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Mostly it was me asking her questions and her dancing around them. She wouldn't even tell me her favorite color."

"Why would you ask that?" Remus asked.

"Just so I can say I figured out _something_ about her," Sirius grumbled.

"What was going on that you grabbed her like that?" Alice asked shrewdly. She might be able to get Grey to tell her – she seemed okay with sharing some stuff with her and Frank – but she wanted to hear Sirius' side of it.

Sirius' grey eyes flicked to his friends for a brief second and Alice felt suspicion stir in her, the same suspicion that had been there since hearing the story.

"Just about Peter's Animagus ability. Like where he learned it and stuff," Sirius said, meeting her gaze evenly.

_Liar_ , she thought. _It may have to do with his ability, but I'd bet anything you knew about it. You might even be one yourself. She mentioned an enormous black dog in her story, but she never said what happened to it. Only that you were there._

"Oh," she said, gathering up Neville's things. "And I guess she didn't answer and it made you mad then?"

"More or less," he said with a nod. "So I grabbed her to demand an answer and…well, we all saw how she reacted."

"Poor Grey," Alice sighed, standing and moving to pick Neville up out of the playpen. Both he and Hollis had crashed about fifteen minutes ago.

" _What?_ " Sirius said. "She's obviously mental!"

"But what made her that way?" Alice challenged, though quietly as she didn't want to wake Neville. "She started out as normal as Hollis or Neville, but the war changed her. Do you know what a Field Marshal is?" They shook their heads. "Head of the _entire_ army! She was in charge of everything – missions, supply lines, battles – everything. She ran it and I bet anything Voldemort targeted her because of it. She had to build those defensive reactions for her own safety. It's sad. She's only twenty something, barely older than us and yet she had all that responsibility, all those lives on her hands..." She trailed off, thinking of what she wasn't telling them – about Severus, about Frank's description of how upset she had been over his letter to her.

_Letters_ , she corrected mentally. It was surprising to find that out; that Severus Snape, the most austere man she knew, had written letters to woman he loved while spying behind enemy lines. He had kept it up for over two years and then, before either of them could confess to the other, he had been ripped away from the world. Heart-warmingly romantic, but horribly tragic, like the stuff of Shakespeare, only worse because it was _real_.

She had no idea how Grey was keeping so well composed. Alice thought she was going to snap when Sirius had insulted Snape, but she had played it off casually, seeming only like a mildly put out friend rather than a broken hearted lover. Or almost-could've-been lover.

"Why _was_ she made Field Marshal?" Remus wondered. "She _is_ really young and how can anyone that young conduct a _war?_ Particularly a World War."

Alice shrugged. "I don't know. But it couldn't have been easy. It was wonderful seeing you lot, but I should go."

"Be careful, Alice," James warned her. "She may be a kind of tragic figure, but she's dangerous and how much do we really know about her?"

Alice smiled slightly. "I'll be alright, James."

He didn't look wholly convinced, but they all said warm goodbyes and Alice stepped out into the bright winter sun, spotting Grey standing just outside the small fence that ran around the Potter's yard, a few yards away from Sirius' bike.

"How'd they react?" Grey asked casually, glancing up at the sun as though studying the weather.

"Well, it was rather shocking," Alice said, not needing it spelled out for her to understand what Grey was referring too. "But I think they accepted it was a defensive reaction. It _was_ , wasn't it?"

"Yes," Grey said, meeting her eyes the way Sirius had, but she looked completely sincere. "Trust me, I wouldn't intentionally do anything that would make them anymore suspicious of me than they already are, and I don't like being stared at like I'm a freak, a dangerous animal or what have you."

Alice understood the sentiment and they started slowly walking down the road, no particular destination in mind. "They don't. I pointed out where you came from, what a Field Marshal was, Frank told me, and they accepted that it was just a reaction. They'll probably be a little leery of you for a while, but they'll get over it. But why did Sirius' grab your arm?"

"I may have baited him with information that he thinks is completely secret," Grey said, looking a little sheepish for the first time. "It wasn't intentionally done, per se, and I didn't expect him to grab me like that either."

"And then it went downhill."

"And then it went downhill," Grey repeated with a nod. "So where are we headed?"

"Home. The elves can keep an eye on him while he sleeps and we can go to Diagon and wherever," she said. Grey nodded and they ducked into an alley. Alice took her hand and Apparated them closer than they had been last night. She could do that now that the wards recognized Grey as a friendly.

In a matter of minutes, Alice had laid Neville down and they Apparated to an alley near the Leaky Cauldron. They quickly made their way through to Gringotts, where Alice pulled out a hundred galleons, thinking it would be a good starter amount. She didn't know how much Grey needed to do whatever it was that required 'plausible deniability', but Grey didn't ask for more, so she left it at that.

"Where first?" she asked Grey when they left the bank.

"Since we're here, we'll start here," Grey murmured, her eyes flitting everywhere. She started walking back up the street, but instead of going to one of the main stores, she started winding her way down an alley that Alice had never been down before.

It was dirtier and deserted, but Grey kept walking confidently, so Alice kept following.

After several minutes, Alice started hearing faint noises. As they moved closer, she realized it sounded not too dissimilar to what Diagon sounded like before the war. And then they turned the corner and she found herself gaping.

It was whole other street!

Sure, she had known that there were other streets just off Diagon Alley – and she had been through most of them, and there was always the infamous Knockturn – but _this_ was different.

"Welcome to Arcanus Avenue," Grey said.


	7. Arcanus & Surprise Guests

"What is this place?" Alice asked in surprise, looking around.

Hollis could well imagine what was going through her mind. The first time Severus had brought her here, she had probably looked exactly like her.

The street wasn't particularly long, maybe a couple dozen shops total, but the people were interesting. They were a strange mixture of astonishingly modern (as in, ahead of its time; she would know) Muggle and edgy Wizarding fashion, most had tattoos or piercings, and none of them looked a bit concerned about the war. The atmosphere was light and friendly, and laughter and the murmur of conversation drifted towards them over the low tunes one of the shops was crooning. Strangely dressed kids – several of them sporting unnatural hair colors or streaks – darted around, chasing each other.

"Arcanus Avenue," Hollis repeated. "It's a small community, really, and they're very picky about who they share this street with, so keep it quiet, alright?" Alice nodded. "Whatever you do, never lie to anyone. You can say you don't want to give out that information or simply shake your head, but never lie. Most of these places have charms to detect them and it won't go down well."

Alice nodded again, slower this time. "What are we here for?"

"Quite a bit," Hollis said, starting up the street again. "They have just about everything I'm searching for here, all of it better quality than what you'll find in the main streets of Diagon. Some of it is more expensive, but it's all fair."

Alice stayed mostly silent as Hollis drifted from shop to shop, picking up all the main things she'd need. No one recognized either her or Alice, but she introduced them both to every store owner they met – leaving herself simply as Grey – and never saying who told her about this place. She kept her manner friendly, if a little aloof, and they did likewise. She shopped efficiently, buying only what she couldn't out in the Muggle world.

It took her less than an hour and they ended up at the opposite end of where they started, standing outside a salon and tattoo parlor.

"Ever consider getting one?" Hollis asked, thinking sadly that sooner or later, she'd have to add Severus' death to her list of dates, with a 'B' next to it for Battle, as well as two strikes for Texas and Maine.

"Once," Alice said. "But it was never really my style. Thinking of getting another?"

"Yeah," she said. "I have dates for when all the people closest to me died...But not today," she said decisively. "Not yet."

They turned away and walked back up the street, giving the people they had met nods. Hollis knew word of 'Alice' and 'Grey' would have gone through their little network by nightfall, and while plenty would turn up on Alice – they had some fantastic connections in Arcanus, especially the shop owners who only worked from sunset to sunrise – they would find nothing on her, which, depending on how she played it, could be good or bad.

They left Arcanus Avenue behind and she led them back towards Diagon easily.

"Remember what I said about telling people, Alice," Hollis said. "If you _must_ tell someone, let it be Frank and make sure he knows not to tell anyone else."

"Why? They seem to be doing well, but they could probably use more customers," Alice asked curiously.

"But it'd take away the atmosphere they've created, one of peace and honesty, creativity and acceptance, warmth and security," Hollis tried to explain. "Others would come in and ridicule them. Some would be elitists who'd try to drive them off, others would be hateful Death Eaters who'd target their street and homes because of their mixing of Muggle and Wizarding things. Sure, there might be some who'd accept them, who might even love it the way I do, but they're quieter and already trying to protect their own homes, they won't get mixed up in Arcanus business if Voldemort targets them."

"I see," Alice said, nodding thoughtfully. "Alright. I won't tell anyone but Frank, and I'll make it really clear to keep it a secret between us three."

"You're wonderful, Alice, really," Hollis told her, smiling slightly. Out of everyone who could've figured out who she was, Hollis was glad it was Frank and Alice. So far, anyway – that could, she knew, change easily.

Alice smiled back warmly. "I'm glad you think so. You're pretty amazing yourself."

"Thanks," Hollis said, hearing the bustle of Diagon come ever closer. "Do you have any shopping to do around the main street?"

"No," Alice said. "But don't you need more clothing?"

"Yeah, but I can get them cheaper in the Muggle world and I generally prefer their style anyway," Hollis said, eyeing Alice's thick winter robes. "You're certainly welcome to come with, but we're going to have to change your outfit..."

"Alright," Alice said agreeably. They went to the Leaky Cauldron and ducked into the downstairs bathroom meant for dining customers and Alice transfigured her underrobe – which was meant to be something like a dress, Hollis supposed; she had never really understood Wizarding fashion – into a long sleeved, deep blue shirt and dark jeans, and her overrobe into a thick coat. Hollis cast a small charm to make her trousers and coat look less leathery. She probably should have cast it earlier, but it had slipped her mind.

Hollis stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron, debating about which direction to go. A lot of things could change in twenty plus years, but there _had_ to be some sort of pawn shop that wouldn't ask her too many questions about her gold somewhere. Which reminded her...She took out two pieces of gold, putting them in her coat pocket, and _Silencio_ -ed the rest so that whoever owned the shop wouldn't hear the clink and decide to rob her or something.

After a moment, she turned right, figuring she had to start somewhere. It took her forty-one blocks, but she found the perfect store and quickly, with as little information as possible traded, exchanged two galleons, each an ounce of mostly pure gold, for a grand total of nine hundred and eighty-four pounds.

"Wow," Alice said when they left. "I didn't know they could go for _that_ much."

"It varies, depending on the price of gold, but you can usually fetch a decent price for it and it'll only go up in the future because it's so rare," Hollis informed her, pleased with her trade.

They backtracked to a shopping center that they had passed earlier and Hollis had to commend Alice for not complaining about the amount of ground they were treading. Most Wizards were so used to quick transportation that they would be whining and groaning by now. She was also glad it was winter, though. If it had been summer, they'd have been miserable.

Hollis didn't like being there, in the shopping center. It was awkward and there were far too many people for her to feel even the slightest bit safe. She moved quickly, glad that people were too consumed with their own lives to really take note of herself and Alice, who was glancing around curiously, clearly having never been in such a solidly Muggle place before.

Hollis avoided the frilly, girly looking stores and found one that looked reasonable. It was a department store with all kinds of things and, mercifully, the door she entered led right into the woman's section. She had never shopped-shopped before and for a second and she stood there stupidly for a long moment. It seemed so…big. Where did she start? Perhaps if she broke it down, did it one part at a time, it wouldn't seem so overwhelming. After all, it could hardly be more complicated or difficult than conducting a war.

With that in mind, she set off for undergarments first, snagging a cart to hold everything thing in. It seemed to take ages, but she finally had a basic wardrobe, all of it fairly unremarkable – usually dark colored and made of fairly tough fabrics that wouldn't wear out or stain easily – and she moved onto shoes, picking out two pairs of Converse. They were more or less good for running (short distances) and not too thick to scale things with. She also made sure to get a good pair of running shoes for her exercising. She'd always prefer her boots over all, but variety was good.

On a whim, she talked Alice into buying a few Muggle items and insisted she get a pair of Converse.

"This is amazing," Alice whispered, staring at the hundreds of pairs of shoes. "I didn't know Muggles had places like this..."

Hollis chuckled. "Muggles, compared to the Wizarding world, are extremely advanced and very efficient. And they have the larger population."

"You said they helped in your war, right?" Alice asked, glancing around warily. Hollis was less concerned. For all the people that were there, there were few in their section and less than there could be. It was the middle of the day on a school day; the usual teens that flooded the place were all in school.

"Yep. Once they figured out how to get Muggle tech working around and with magic, they did a lot of damage. That and the States getting involved helped put us in a stalemate," she replied grimly. If only they had figured it out sooner, Hollis bet they could have won the war then. A few missiles would be all it took...She wished she understood all that technical stuff so she could implement it here, sooner, but it was completely out of her depth.

She bet Severus had understood it though. He seemed to understand everything.

They rolled her cart to the front of the store.

"Is this all for you today, ma'am?" asked the Muggle cashier. It was a young guy, about her age, and he wore a slightly too warm smile. He had nicely mused brown hair, glinting brown eyes, a tan, and a too-white smile. Alice looked mildly amused – he _had_ looked at her, but once she brushed her hair back behind her ear, accidently flashing her wedding ring, he shifted all of his focus to Hollis.

"Yes," Hollis said flatly. He continued to try and start a conversation with her as he rang up their items, but Hollis shut him down wherever she could without being horribly rude.

It was a kind of surreal experience – like, was he really _hitting_ on her? There had been a fair share of romances in the base, but none of them involved her. No one had ever tried to involve her. She was the Field Marshal, the Chosen One, and as such, completely off limits, she supposed. She had thought that there might be some man who tried to snag her, if only for the power of her position, but only one had, back in the early days, and the Aurors she kept around her sent him off quickly. She had barely even noticed, overwhelmed as she was with everything she was suddenly required to know and understand.

Eventually, she got her grasp on the situation, and she kept a sharp eye out, but whatever that man – what had his name been? – said to others, it must have kept them away. Or the Aurors did it. She didn't really know which and, for the most part, she was more than happy to not have to deal with that drama, even if she got lonely. And then _Severus_ had happened and she didn't want anyone else's attention. She found herself comparing the men around her to him and most of them coming up short. Only Maine had ever really leveled out with him, and that was in a more brotherly like way.

Finally, she was able to pay and they made their escape.

"Too soon?" Alice asked gently.

Hollis shrugged. "Partly, I guess. The other part is just bizarre. Being Field Marshal kept most at bay, I suppose. Or I was too young for them and they were too star-struck for me. Something like that, anyway."

"Have you ever kissed a boy?"

Hollis glanced at her, startled. "What?"

Alice looked kind of mischievous. "Have you ever been kissed? Snogged?"

"Alice!" She felt her face start to burn.

"What?" she asked innocently. Hollis shook her head, partly in exasperation and partly as an answer. "Is that a no or are you just shaking your head at me?"

"It's a no," Hollis said. "Even before the war, I was...different from others my age."

A flash of understanding showed in Alice's eyes, her face sobering. "Because of what happened on that Halloween? You surviving when the others didn't?"

"More or less," Hollis said with a nod. It was kind of nice, talking to Alice and not having to watch her words very, very carefully.

Perhaps Severus' way of interacting with the world had been easier – keeping everyone from prying simply because they couldn't take the sarcasm and snark he dished out long enough to ask their questions and, even then, his rude refusals or enigmatic answers kept them from understanding anything of importance.

Alice looked thoughtful and they both jumped when a house-elf appeared in front of them. Hollis immediately swept her eyes around, but no one appeared surprised or alarmed, so he must have hidden himself from their gazes. 

Hollis had a theory that, if house-elves had been anything like the goblins and still had their particular form of magic, they'd have conquered the world long ago. The things they could do continuously amazed her.

The elf, an older one with tuffs of white hair growing from his floppy ears, and large blue eyes, gave them a bow that they didn't acknowledge. "Little Master is awake," he reported.

Alice nodded and the elf popped away. "Are you coming home with me or do you still have more to do?"

"My business for now is complete," Hollis said. "The rest will have to wait until after sundown."

Hollis and Alice quickly left the shopping center and walked a couple of blocks to find a deserted ally. Hollis let Alice Apparate them and quickly followed her up the stairs in the foyer. While Alice headed right for Neville's nursery, Hollis turned left, heading to what was currently her room.

How long would she be staying there for? Should she accept their offer and pay them rent or something when she could? She'd have to get a job sooner than later – sshe couldn't keep asking money from them; her pride wouldn't let her.

The sight of the blue with the sunlight streaming in the window made her sigh. It was very peaceful and Hollis lowered her shields, having half-forgotten that she had tightened them at the Potters' house.

For a long moment, she could only stand still, sorting through her jumbled, held back emotions. Her eyes closed and she breathed slowly and deeply, like Severus had taught her.

God, how she missed him.

She had rarely seen him, but she had known he was alive, that he'd be in contact. Now, she constantly lived with the fact that he wasn't and he wouldn't. It was like a splinter digging deeper every time she remembered – a splinter the size of the biggest tree in the Forbidden Forest and with the personality of the Whomping Willow.

While in the store, she would try on a shirt or pair of jeans and find herself wondering if Severus would like it when (and if) he saw them on her only to remember the truth. After the third time it happened, she simply quit trying things on. She knew her size and anything she ended up not liking, she could return.

How would it be with this year's Snape? Would he let her in? Let her be his friend? Would she even want too? She hadn't really focused on him the night before, but would his face – which would be different; younger, less scarred, and without the dusting of silver in his hair – cause her pain? It would be _his_ , after all, no matter the age. The crook in his nose would be similar, and so would his eyes.

What if she, out of some misguided notion, turned her affections on him? But then, how could she? He wasn't _her_ Severus – he was just Snape, freshly recruited and still partly in love with her mother.

That was her answer, then. She couldn't. Not yet, anyway. Maybe once she had moved past this, if she ever moved past it. Then she could attempt civilized contact, maybe even friendship. She doubted she could ever love him the way she loved Severus and didn't want to. He wouldn't know her the way Severus did, wouldn't have shared all those experiences.

Hollis breathed out slowly, blinking back tears.

She knew she had things to do – practicing brewing Wolfsbane for Remus, for one, and getting her new background organized for another – but she picked up her tin of letters instead and headed for the door, leaving a small note on her door that said where she had gone too.

Once she cleared the inner wards – there were two sets; one along the perimeter of the grounds that kept out everybody unless they were keyed into those wards, along with various other things, and the inner one that extended twenty meters in all directions from the walls of the Manor that kept everyone but those of immediate blood ties to the Lord of the House from getting any closer – she activated her portkey and landed at the edge of Severus' grave.

The snow had covered the freshly dug grave, disguising it completely. Hollis was grimly amused – how just like Severus; blending in with everything when he should have stood out completely.

"Hi," she told the grave almost breathlessly, wondering what he'd think of her talking to it. Probably not very well – she was essentially talking to dirt – but while he wasn't particularly mushy or anything, he might appreciate the sentiment behind the talking.

With a wave of her wand, she transfigured a fallen branch into a small bench and set it down to the right of the grave. She sat down and stared at the tin her hands.

"Who would have thought you'd write me letters? They are all for me, aren't they?" she asked quietly. Then she chuckled darkly. "I can only imagine Frank and Alice's surprise at it. They probably thought you were colder than the snow...I can't believe you're gone. I will, eventually. I do with Ron and Hermione, though they're alive now, aren't they? But I wish I didn't have to accept you were gone. At least I have the letters...that's something. Like a piece of you left for me to unwrap and understand. A bittersweet gift..."

She looked up, feeling the sunlight dance across her face through the branches of the tree, and sighed. It was a truly nice day – brisk and freezing, but bright and sunny. It was almost ironic, really. The only day that had ever reflected how she had felt was the day Neville died – a storm had raged for three days, as though even nature was angry and bemoaning his death. Which, in a vague way, seemed fitting; his passion had been nature. His love for dangerous plants was only rivialed by Hagrid's love of dangerous animals and Severus' love of extremely complicated and lethal-if-you-cut-even-a-hair-too-thin potions.

The tin seemed unnaturally heavy in her hands and she looked back down at it. Her fingers traced the ' _SS_ ' longingly and she swallowed thickly.

"I'm so tired of losing people," she mumbled, voicing the thought out loud for the first time. "Everyone close to me is gone. Even before this ridiculous time jump, they were gone. You were the last..." Her voice broke and she tried to stifle a sob.

She knew the _Help Yourself Through Grief_ book like the back of her hand and knew it helped some, and that it said to cry whenever – it was cathartic and all that – but she couldn't bring herself to let it go. Not here, not in broad daylight. Not over the grave of a man who hated tears.

With several strong sniffs and a hint of help from her Occlumency barriers, she pulled herself together enough to open the tin. His scent, mingled with that of parchment and ink, drifted out and she inhaled deeply. What would it have been like to wake up one morning and smell that right next to her? To smell it on her clothes after falling asleep on him? To have it mingle with her own in a small house somewhere quiet and peaceful and away from everybody?

Everything in her ached to know and it literally felt like it was killing her not to know, to never get that chance to know.

Quickly, she shut the lid, suddenly unable to bear the thought of the scent escaping and fading.

~~~

Alice peeked out the front drawing room window again. It had a great view of the front grounds and she'd know immediately when Grey – Alice had decided to call her thus to keep from confusing her with the smaller Hollis – came back.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind and Frank drew her close. "She'll come back when she's ready," he murmured in her ear, his voice deep and pleasant.

"I know, but I can't help but worry," Alice replied softly. Neville was off to the side a little ways, building blocks on the ground. Frank had been playing with him only a few seconds ago.

They stood silently, watching the world outside of the window. It was nearing sunset and Grey had been gone for hours. Alice silently resolved that if she wasn't back by the time the sun was fully down, she was going after her. What if she had cried herself into exhaustion again? She'd freeze to death.

"Frank," she whispered, sudden terror squeezing her heart. "You don't think she'd commit _suicide_ do you?"

Frank stiffened behind her and she twisted to face him, searching his face. He looked surprised and alarmed by the thought, but she could also see him turning it over in his mind, searching for signs that she was either right or wrong. After several heartbeats, he relaxed a little.

"No," he said decisively. "She all but swore yesterday that she was going to end the war and change the future. She's come too far and lost too much to give in now, not even over his death. Not to mention the things she bought today. That doesn't sound like someone who's planning their own death. Though...she might not be thinking as clearly as she might – if she stays out there by accident..." He trailed off, looking sober and concerned.

"I'm going after her if she's not back by sunset," Alice informed him.

He nodded. "That's probably for the best."

There was a flash of green and then Snape's head was in the fire. It was such an odd sight that, for a moment, Alice could only blink at it. What on earth did Severus Snape want with them?

"Where is Grey? I need to speak with her," he said quickly. There were faint dark circles under his eyes and though she could only see his head, he looked a bit...frayed at his edges. As though he had been under tremendous strain.

"She isn't here, but I can get her if you want to come through?" Alice managed to say. Snape considered it for a moment, then nodded. As Alice turned to grab her coat, Snape came all the way through.

For once, he wasn't wearing his customary all black layers, only a white button up shirt, black jeans, and boots. The cuffs of his white shirt had been rolled back up to his elbows, his Mark standing out starkly on his pale skin, and it was slightly wrinkled, which only reinforced Alice's belief that he had been stressed. To her recollection, except for the pranks James and the others had inflicted on him, Severus Snape had never been less than perfectly neat.

"I'll be back soon," she said, then hurried out the door. As soon as she left the inner ward, she twisted and landed at the foot of Severus' grave.

Before her eyes could even fully focus, Grey was up, her wand pointed directly at Alice's heart. Alice froze and Grey sighed, lowering her wand and sitting back on the bench she had added to the graveside. The tin Frank had spoken of sat next to her, but it wasn't open and Grey didn't look like she had been crying or anything.

"What is it?" Grey asked, sounding heavy.

"Snape just flooed over – he wants to speak with you. I think something's up with You Know Who," Alice said briefly. "I mean, I've never seen him such a state and I don't know what else it could be." She shrugged.

Grey nodded and stood, picking up the tin and shrinking it before slipping it back into her inside pocket. She gave Severus' grave one last lingering look before moving to Alice's side. Within minutes, Alice was pulling off her winter coat and Grey was tugging off her gloves, putting them in her pocket.

Snape was pacing and Frank was watching him curiously as they entered.

"Yes?" Grey asked, her tone brisk and neutral. Alice wondered if it hurt to see the younger version of Severus; she imagined it would. She moved towards Frank's side, where she could see both of their faces.

For a long moment, Snape only stared at her and then started walking towards her slowly but with determination. Grey's face looked confused and disbelieving, then utterly shocked and at a loss. Her mouth even fell open a little, as though in bemused wonder.

He stopped in front of her, so close Alice probably couldn't have put a book between them.

" _Hollis_ ," he said lowly, his voice a caress as his hands came up and gently cupped her face. Her hands gripped his wrists as his head leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers.

Alice's jaw dropped.

He knew. She didn't know how, didn't understand what was going on, but he knew her name, her real one. And he said it so affectionately. But how? She glanced up at Frank quickly – he looked just as dumbfounded as she felt – and then back again, not wanting to miss a moment of whatever was going on.

"You're back," Hollis whispered incredulously.

"As if death could stop me," Snape said so softly that Alice almost missed it, a slight smirk on his face. And then, to Alice's utter surprise, he kissed her.


	8. Return of the Dead (Sort Of)

Severus let his conscious move forward and brush against Hollis' after she walked into the room. Automatically, she kept her guard sealed tight, but he persisted, being sure to be as nonthreatening and gentle as possible.

_Hollis_ , his mind whispered to hers. All he could convey was her name – it was exceedingly difficult to communicate with minds that were as well protected as hers. He started moving forward carefully. _Hollis..._

Her mind opened up to him cautiously. _Se - Snape?_

He let a thin thread of amusement weave its way along their connection. _Severus_ , he corrected. _I don't know how it happened, but I have all my memories of the next twenty odd years. Right up until I died..._

Shock and disbelief abounded, but he pushed their last moments forward and she had no choice but to believe him.

He really didn't know how he had gotten where he was. He didn't remember anything after his death – just blackness for an indeterminable time – and then he was watching his life play out in front of him, like a movie. He hadn't been sure what was going on; he had heard the expression 'my life flashed before my eyes' but this seemed different. Then he reached the end and he saw a glimpse of what had happened immediately after his death.

Hollis had called his name twice, looking stunned, desperate, and a bit lost, like she didn't know what to do with herself. Almost mindlessly but with fastidious care, she had fixed him up to the point where he looked like he was merely sleeping. And then she had conjured up a black coffin and everything, but hadn't shut the lid. That Healer, Athers, had done that and Hollis had flinched and asked for a minute.

Severus had watched her lean against the coffin, curling in on herself and looking incredibly small and fragile just then. He almost couldn't believe what he was seeing – did his death really affect her so much? He would have been blind to miss that she considered him a friend and equal, but he had thought she thought of him in a more professional light. Hope that had waned over a long two years sparked anew then as he watched the golden glow start to surround her and his coffin.

Just as she vanished, he woke up, finding himself in Spinner's End.

He was on his floor, laying in an awkward manner that made his limbs fall asleep. While trying to return circulation to them, his mind spun, trying to figure out what had happened and where he was. Then he remembered the night before – the strange, bloody, dangerous but beautiful young woman in black leather who had arrived in a flash of gold light. His mind now recognized her as Hollis and knew that his body had been in the coffin.

As he dressed – well, sort of dressed – he thought over the whole encounter and had to mentally applaud her for keeping it together and getting through the whole thing with the same attitude and control he had come to expect from her.

And now, here they were, inches from each other.

Their minds were still connected and he gently pushed a bit of his affection forward, feeling rather bare. He never was so...honest with anyone, always keeping himself distant. But then her affection welled up like the tide, though she tried to stem it, and he whispered her name again, mentally and verbally. His hands acted without thought, coming up to delicately cup her freezing face.

"You're back," she replied, her voice full of a myriad of emotions, her small, delicate hands that belied her abilities gripping his wrists, as though making sure he was real. He leaned his forehead against hers.

"As if death could stop me," he murmured and he felt a flash of amusement from her, underscoring her awe and disbelief, and then he kissed her and both of their minds stopped making much sense. He did note that she thought his lips were soft, that this was her first kiss, and he was sure she heard his thoughts about her lips being like ice. He pulled away, chuckling softly as she smiled a small but brilliant smile that took the stress and years from her face. "How long were you outside?" he asked, unhurriedly disengaging their minds.

"Hours," she replied. He lowered his hands, catching hers and interlacing their fingers. He knew that Frank and Alice would be watching, mentally wondering what the hell was going on, but, for once, he didn't care about the impression he was giving. He just focused on the feel and look of her hands in his – they fit wonderfully, though her hands were cold too.

There was an odd noise behind them, and he glanced back. Frank looked stunned and Alice was confused, but her eyes were bright with joy and her hands covering her mouth, which was clearing smiling hugely.

"He has his memories back, for lack of a better phrase," Hollis told them. That furthered their stunned look, but after a moment, they both grinned and Alice hugged Frank tightly. Neither of them questioned it, Severus noted, and he glanced at Hollis, raising a single brow. "Alice found out who was in the coffin from being with me when I buried you – I gave you a headstone," she said with a cringe, her hand tightening around his. He squeezed it back, reminding her silently that he was there now. He had released one hand, so that they could both face Frank and Alice without standing awkwardly.

"What did you put on it?" he asked with morbid curiosity.

"Nothing overly sappy – just ' _Severus Snape, Who Died as He Lived, Fighting to End the Dark_ ', and the last verse of _Invictus_ ," she said. He nodded slowly. He liked it – it heralded back to the olden days, when people put more than just a name, birth- and death-date, and an overused and clichéd quote on a grave. "So she told Frank, and then Frank found out who I was from seeing your first letter after I read it and..." She trailed off, shrugging uncomfortably.

He let his mind brush against hers again, so familiar with it that he didn't need eye contact. She let him see some of the memory of her reading the letter and crying, and of the elf fetching Frank, who acted just as Severus had seen Neville act a hundred times.

"Well, that saves me an explanation," Severus said neutrally, sadden to see her that way – he hated tears, especially hers, because there never seemed to be anything he could do about it – but simultaneously euphoric that he meant so much to her. "My question is what do we tell Albus? Or, more precisely, do we tell him at all?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Frank asked, confused.

Severus and Hollis traded a look.

"Dumbledore," she said carefully, "has a...thing about being a chess master rather than being a piece. As in, he thinks so much about the big picture – because he has too, so it's not entirely his fault – but he forgets or doesn't care to remember that the pieces he's moving and manipulating are people too and you really shouldn't do that kind of thing to others. Severus and I have both been burned by him before and it makes us...leery of giving him too much information."

"You know," Alice said thoughtfully, "I can see that. I mean, it can't be easy, his job..."

"It's not," Hollis said, frowning. "But I managed it and I had larger issues to deal with."

"Then again, outside of sheer magical power, you and Albus were never all that alike, and there were some differences to the wars you were running," Severus pointed out.

"Thank Merlin," she muttered as she nodded her understanding of his point. "And what you tell him depends on...well, us. As in, are we – ?" She looked a little awkward and blushed, which made Severus want to chuckle, though he didn't. For one, he didn't think she'd appreciate it, and even if she didn't mind, he most certainly wasn't going to do such a thing in front of Alice and Frank; he still had _something_ of an image to maintain now that the main point of his coming over had been accomplished – and quite well if he could say so himself.

Either way, he understood what she was getting at; if they came out as a couple so soon, Albus was obviously going to want to know why. If they kept it quiet, there was no reason to say anything at all to Albus. However, Severus wasn't exactly keen on keeping it quiet. It could be useful, true, but...

"I think two years was long enough," he murmured and she looked subtly pleased. She was considerably harder to read these days – he and life, the hardest of taskmasters, had taught her well – but he still could.

"Very well," she said, a tad briskly. "We can say you remember bits and pieces."

Severus nodded; if Albus thought that he could only remember some things, then he wouldn't press Severus for information as hard, nor would he suspect Severus of disloyalty – which was more or less sort of true; he still respected the man's intelligence, but Hollis made a better leader and, really, if it came down to it, Severus knew who he'd side with – when Severus "couldn't" provide him with answers about Hollis or the future.

Hollis wouldn't be any more helpful, but then, Albus shouldn't expect her too – she _had_ been a Field Marshal for years now. Even if Albus didn't know what that was exactly last night, Severus knew he'd look into it, and therefore correctly conclude that she had been making her own decisions, conducting others, and having no one higher than herself to answer to for too long to consult him or follow his orders if she didn't deem it necessary. Of course, there was more to it than just being accustom to power, but Albus wouldn't know that nor have any way of figuring it out.

"Why?" Alice asked, confused.

"It gives me a reason not to have all the answers," Severus answered, "while still explaining how I have some of them."

"Clever," Frank mused.

There was a moment of silence and Hollis got a thoughtful look on her face. Along with it came the usual crease in her brow and the ever distracting nibbling on the corner of her lip. Severus was well used to pushing such thoughts away, unwilling to risk having them linger for even a moment and chance them popping up again in a dire moment. It occurred to him at nearly the same moment that it would only be a little while longer before the Dark Lord was defeated and he could allow those thoughts all he wanted. He'd be lying if he said the prospect didn't please him; freedom of thought had been restricted for years as a simple security measure. No matter how good he was at Occlumency, it only took one slip up to get him killed.

"What?" Alice asked her, noting her expression.

"Plotting," Hollis answered absently. "Severus, walk with me..."

She turned without waiting for an answer and simply tugged him along by the hand. He nodded to Frank and Alice, who were a little bemused, and followed her out of the room and towards the curved staircase. Silently, she led the way down the hall, towards what was presumably her bedroom.

"Hum," she muttered. "The elves must have put it away..."

"Put away what?" Severus asked, his eyes automatically flicking around the room. It was nice and had a lovely view, though he didn't take much more than the bare bones of it in; he mostly watched Hollis.

"My bags," she answered, letting go of his hand to shut and ward the door. She turned back to face him and he simply looked back, feeling like a muscle he hadn't known was tensed had relaxed. Her eyes studied his face, probably taking in all the differences, and he drank in her features in return. He had seen her not that long ago, but he had never had the freedom of just _looking_ at her before. It was a novel feeling and one he enjoyed immensely.

Without any noticeable prompting from either of them, he opened his arms the same moment she stepped forward. A silent sigh escaped him as he enveloped her and was, in turn, clung too. A tremor ran through her frame and she tightened her already very tight grip on him. He returned the favor, thinking that, most likely, she was replaying his death in her mind. Merlin only knew how it'd feel if he ever had to watch her die without being able to do a single thing to help.

Almost involuntarily, his eyes closed as he rested his head against hers. She smelt more like roses than her usual lavender, but he didn't particularly care. It was _Hollis_ and she was _here_ , in his arms, and he could think of nothing better short of Voldemort's sudden death in a freak accident totally unrelated to her. Every time he saw Hollis getting ready to fight or fighting, it felt like he couldn't breathe properly until it was over and she was safe. He had already lost one woman he loved to this war and he had lived – _still_ lived – with the fear he'd lose another, one ever dearer to him.

Which in and of itself was utterly bizarre – if anyone had told him even three years ago that he'd fall in love with the Potters' daughter, he'd have laughed himself into a coma, and then have the person committed for psychiatric help. Ten years ago, and he'd have flat out cursed that person.

As if reading his thoughts – though he was certain that she wasn't – Hollis pulled back a little, looking up at him and saying, "Who'd have thought we'd end up here?"

"No one, not even Albus on his most eccentric and mysterious day," Severus replied dryly.

Her mouth quirked faintly. "Think Trewlawney ever saw this one coming?"

"Unlikely – though, in retrospect, maybe. One of us did die and there was no one she liked predicting death for more than you and I," he amended a little thoughtfully.

Her smiled died as her face tightened a little. "Yeah. I remember."

"So," he said, seeking to distract her as he tucked an errant curl behind her ear, "to what bags were you referring too?"

Their little moment gone, they released each other and she sat on the bench at the edge of her bed. He sat next to her and they watched the flames crackling merrily in the large fireplace.

"Oh, shopping bags. Alice and I went after Neville's playdate with little Hollis," she said.

Severus raised his brows slightly. "So you've officially met Potter and Lily?" he said, starting to roll down his sleeves and smooth them out.

She grimaced slightly. "Yes, and I left the worst impression..." She briefly told him about talking Potter and the others, and about taking Alice to Arcanus Avenue, then going to the Muggle shopping center. Severus listened to it all, part of his mind taking in her words, and the other part only listening to the cadence of her voice, the tones and inflections of her words. It was utterly surreal to be sitting here with her, holding her hand, knowing she returned his feelings, and _not_ having World War III hanging over them. "...and now, of course, we're here."

She smiled and he smiled back faintly.

For several minutes, they sat in silence. Soon, Severus knew, they'd have to focus on the obvious – how to bring Voldemort down – but for just that moment, both of them were content to just breathe.

Thinking back, Severus couldn't remember the last time he hadn't been preoccupied in the war or Voldemort in some fashion. It was a little disconcerting just how consumed his life had been with this war, but he supposed there wasn't much for it now, and really, it wouldn't be like that _too_ much longer. He estimated that, between himself and Hollis, they face maybe a year max more of war, but hoped they could get it to under a couple of months.

"So," Hollis said then.

"So," he repeated.

"Any suggestions on how to end this quickly? I think, personally, we should take Voldemort down before messing with the Horcruxes," she said. "It saves us having to be careful about tipping him off and if he's dead, he can't terrorize. His spirit would be lurking about, sure, but it'll be too weak to do anything and it'll vanish the second we destroy the last Horcrux."

Severus nodded, the wheels of his mind turning. "Our best chance would be a surprise attack, of course," he mused. "One decisive blow, taking out as many Death Eaters as we can in the process – cut off the head and scatter the army, as it were."

"Where's he currently holed up?" she asked.

Severus immediately latched onto what she was thinking. "Lestrange Manor. It's heavily fortified, but there will be a way in."

They fell into discussing the particulars and in the middle of it, Hollis said what they were both thinking. "We're good – great, even – but we need more men."

"The Order is sure to have volunteers," Severus pointed out.

"But they're not likely to be good enough," she said speculatively, her brow scrunched, making the faint, premature lines crinkle even deeper.

"So we make them good enough," Severus said. "Training is not unfamiliar to us, and with the right settings and people, it won't take more than a month, month and a half at most. That and between, Merlin help me, Potter, Black, Longbottom, and a couple of others, we could definitely recruit some Aurors. I know an Unspeakable and, with the right persuasion, I'm sure he can get us a man or two, and you know as well as I how skilled they are."

She had been staring at the fire, but now she looked up at him. "They can't be married or have children," she said, her face grim. "I won't make widows and orphans if I don't have too."

He stared back for a solid movement. "And their parents?" he asked. "They might be forced to put their children in the ground before their time. I've heard it said that there is nothing crueler...We can train them, Hollis, but we can't prevent loss."

She sighed but didn't look away. "We can minimize the ones directly affected," she countered.

"I understand your logic, I really do, but if the men and women who are better duelers happen to be married and have kids, then we shouldn't shy away from picking them. They would have a better chance of surviving," he said. "We can take poor duelers and make them good, but we can take those that are good and have natural talent and make them _great_. You know that."

Hollis chewed on that for a moment, but he knew she wouldn't object further. No matter her discomfort with it, she would see the logic and she had been Field Marshal long enough to be able to put aside personal feelings and focus on what had the best chance of succeeding with minimal loss.

She gave him a slightly sour look. "Very well, but if there is a tie between two members and one of them doesn't have a family, I'm picking that one."

"That's fair," he allowed. "How do you propose that we pick them? How many do we want for the team?"

"It depends," she said. "We need more specifics before we start trying to craft a team. Where are we striking? What skills are we going to need? How are we going to strike? When?"

Severus nodded, having expected that answer. "We need to contact Dumbledore. I haven't checked in today and ignored his last attempt to contact me in favor of coming to find you," he said. "After that, we'll have plenty of time to plot without interruptions."

Hollis gave one nod. "You can use Frank and Alice's Floo, I'm sure. Do you want to go alone, or do you want me to come with you?"

"It'd be both more advantageous to have you with me and to not. If you are there – " Severus started explaining, only to be cut off by a flash of fire. A piece of parchment fluttered in the air and he snagged it easily, unfolding it as Hollis looked over his shoulder. They both knew it was from Dumbledore – if the via-phoenix-message hadn't given it away, the curling, pale purple script would've.

_Hogwarts' gates. Now._

"Was that meant for me or – " Hollis was similarly cut off by another flash of fire, this one directly in front of her.

"That answers that," he murmured, reading the identical note in her hand.

"I wonder if Alice and Frank got one," she said, standing with him.

"It would be likely. They were not in the closest circle around the Headmaster, but they weren't on the fringes either," Severus said. "That, and they're housing you the last Albus knew."

She nodded and they left the room, running into Frank in the middle of the staircase.

"Did you – ?" he started, holding up a piece of parchment between his fingertips. Hollis nodded, holding hers up. He gave a single nod, turning and leading the way back down. Through the doors leading into the drawing room, he could see Alice talking to someone in the fire. They stood there for a little bit before Alice backed out, startled to see them.

"You got the summons?" she said. Severus and Hollis both nodded.

"Yes," he said out loud. "If I may, I'd like to use your floo."

Alice looked bemused. "Why? Wouldn't Apparation be faster?"

"I'm not intending on going directly to Hogwarts," Severus answered.

"Why not? Where are you going to go?" Frank asked.

Severus was tempted for a moment to reply with a typical, caustic remark and, based off Frank's slight wince, he was bracing himself for it. Hollis, however, cut him off inadvertently. "He's probably going to get fully dressed. Have you _ever_ seen him in anything other than at least two layers of black?"

Frank seriously considered it. "Once," he said. "During my second year. He wore green."

Hollis looked surprised and looked at him. " _Really?_ "

"I lost a bet with Lily," he said simply.

She smiled. "Nice," she told him. "Ever make that bet again?"

"Absolutely not," he said.

Hollis looked mock disappointed. "Well, there goes that idea...You should go before we all end up late."

He nodded and gave her a small smile before disappearing through the floo.


	9. A Meeting

Hollis hid a smile as, with a crack, Severus appeared about twenty feet from the gates, the last to arrive. His pale face was set in a mask of absolute dispassion as he strode up, uninhibited by the snow, to their group.

"Severus," Albus said with relief. "I was worried something had happened to you, dear boy, when you didn't contact me."

"Something came up," he replied neutrally, dusting a flake of snow from his shadowy black robes. They fit him nicely and Hollis briefly glanced over him – no one would take note of her doing so – and inwardly admired his fit form. It was leaner than in the future, but not by much. 

Hollis could see that Albus was curious about what had detained Severus, but it was cold, and so they – herself, the Longbottoms, Severus, Moody (who eyed Severus distrustfully), and Albus – piled into one carriage while the Potters, Sirius, a pair of twins she suspected to be the Prewett twins (she knew of no other pair with _that_ shade of red hair), and an unknown man with dark brown hair dusted with silver got into another. The last one held Kingsley, a stately blonde woman with pale green eyes that looked familiar to Hollis, and another woman with golden-honey blonde hair, and bright blue eyes.

_Just the Inner Circle of the Order then_ , Hollis mused herself as the others talked quietly around her and Severus. _I suppose Minerva is up at the school already as well._ She didn't, out of the professors she knew were around this year, think there was any others that would be included, so that put the number of people at the meeting at a grand total of seventeen, counting Albus.

"Did you recognize everybody?" Albus asked her, breaking her from her thoughts.

Hollis glanced at him, careful to keep her expression as flat as Severus' was, before letting her eyes drift back to the beautiful scene around her. It had been a very long time since she had seen a whole Hogwarts.

"I believe so," she lied. "It's a little hard to be sure, as they are considerably younger and less...changed by the wars."

"Changed?" Moody asked.

She was grimly amused by it being him who asked that. "Scarred. One thing was true of everyone – on both sides of the war – no one made it to the point of my departure without getting a few scars, not unless they were very young and carefully hidden. And even they have too old eyes."

Albus looked sadden. "Where did it go so wrong?" he asked, more to himself than anything. Nevertheless, Hollis seriously considered it.

"Salazar Slytherin," she decided out loud.

"What?" Frank asked.

"That's where it went wrong. If he hadn't held the beliefs he did, maybe his descendants wouldn't have been so prejudiced. If they hadn't, maybe Voldemort's mother wouldn't have been a half-mad Squib that lived with an abusive father and brother. If she hadn't, she most likely wouldn't have used a love potion on a handsome, wealthy Muggle – or even caught him honestly. In either case, it's unlikely that Tom Riddle would've been raised in a Muggle orphanage, and therefore, probably not picked up his hatred of Muggles and cruel streak. Tom Riddle wouldn't have become Voldemort," she said.

"On the flip side," Severus said into the stunned, bemused silence following her statement. "It's not always nurture. Occasionally, it's just nature. He could have always been this way."

"Point. But then, if it was inherent in him, then where did he get it? His parents, most likely from his mother's side, which makes my point valid," she countered.

He considered that, then shrugged ever so lightly. "Touché."

She almost smiled at Albus' blink at his concession. "It doesn't matter anyway," she said instead. "He is what he is and there is no chance of changing him now."

"How do you know all that about him?" Moody asked.

"I said yesterday, Auror Moody," Hollis said, meeting the man's sharp gaze blandly. "Various sources, though Voldemort most certainly did _not_ tell me about his heritage. He'd prefer that stayed buried forever. If you ever feel like making him angry, call him Riddle, Tom, or my personal favorite – Tom-Tom." She smirked faintly at the memory of the utter surprise that showed on his face the first time she called him that. She hadn't intended on using it, but he was pointing a wand at Luna and she had said the first thing she could think of to get his attention.

Moody gave her a disgusted look. "You waste time mocking him that you could use fighting?"

She scoffed. "He tends – tended – to start it. For a Dark Lord, he is certainly verbose, but then, that's part of it, isn't it? Being arrogant and having a preference for hearing himself speak, I mean. Anyway, I haven't actually verbally sparred with him in quite some time. It gets boring after a while, though he still tries – tried – every now and then."

They reached the school and they all got out, Severus offering her a hand, though she didn't need it. When Hollis glanced back to catch a glimpse of the Black Lake, Albus and Moody were staring at his back even though he had already dropped her hand again. She withheld another smile and traded a subtle, amused look with Severus, who had, of course, noticed.

Albus, regaining his demeanor, led them through to the entrance and up to a room on the second floor. They passed by students, but other than her, they didn't receive that many looks. She decided they must be used to the others passing through.

In the room was a large round table where Minerva sat with another man that Hollis didn't recognize. He had neatly brushed, wavy, pale blonde hair, cold blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin. His face was strong and his build stocky. As they all took their seats, he watched her curiously, as though trying to dissect her. It was easy to ignore him, to give off an air of neutrality, but she was definitely curious about him. Instead of studying him in return the way she wanted to, she looked at Dumbledore, who was tapping the table with his wand. A tea set appeared and cups went out to everyone.

Hollis didn't realize until she was grasping the hot cup of tea, but she was rather cold still. She sipped her tea slowly, listening to the idle chatter around her as everyone got settled. Severus, sitting to her right, barely touched his tea, choosing to frown faintly and stare at the table, apparently deep in thought. She wondered what he was thinking about, but didn't try and figure it out just then. If it was important, he'd find a way to let her know.

"Everyone settled?" Dumbledore asked.

Hollis didn't intend to answer, but 'yes' slipped from her all the same. It was lost in everyone else's murmurs and she felt panic start to rise. It took her only a split second to realize she had been dosed with Veritaserum, and she mentally berated herself for not checking her cup.

Barely a full twenty-four hours in the past, and she was slipping.

"Marshal Grey – what's your real name?" Dumbledore asked, looking at her directly.

Hollis tried to stand, pursing her lips to try and keep the answer back, but her chair had apparently been pre-charmed as she hadn't felt anyone cast anything. How did they know which one she'd sit in? She tried to reach out to Severus mentally next, but she had always been pants at Legilimency and the potion only dulled it (and her magic) further.

She settled for smacking his arm. He looked at her, a little startled, and she glared at her cup, then looked back at him meaningfully. He followed her gaze, then looked back her intently, probably studying her eyes, which were probably starting to look a little glassy. She pressed a hand to her mouth as he slipped a hand into one of his many pockets and pulled out a slender vial of black, almost syrupy liquid and handed to her. She downed it without a second thought, almost gagging at its nasty taste and half-choking as the potion tried to make her speak at the same time. Thankfully, it was fast acting and Hollis could no longer feel the pressing need to answer.

"Severus," Dumbledore said sharply, his voice a rebuke.

"What?" Severus snapped back.

"Thank you," Hollis said quietly, trying to work out how to best deal with this. Severus' face softened a hair as he gave her a nod.

"Did you drug her?" Alice demanded, her face alight with anger. Frank didn't look any happier, and neither, Hollis noted, did Minerva, the stranger with her, Remus, the man with dark brown hair, or the woman with honey blonde hair and blue eyes. The rest were either shocked or Aurors and apparently okay with it.

"He needed honest answers and that's the best way to get them," Moody growled. "Obviously the girl is hiding something."

"Something _personal_ , not life threatening or dangerous, Moody," Hollis said, her voice low and dangerous. It was a trait she had picked up from Severus after realizing just how effective it was.

"They would have realized it anyway, given time," Dumbledore told her, ignoring everyone else. "After all, the only person who can kill Voldemort is the little girl of the prophecy – which is about Hollis Potter."

"Unless, you know, Hollis died in my time and that broke the bonds of the prophecy, allowing me to take over," Hollis said coldly. The Potters winced and paled at the thought. "Gee, I'm glad you considered that when possibly springing that ugly revelation on a set of parents."

"Did she?" Dumbledore challenged.

"It's not like Voldemort is going to wait for her to be all grown up and trained," Severus said bitingly. "He's not stupid."

"Grey – Liz – please," James asked, meeting her gaze with pleading hazel eyes that were full of love and concern for his tiny daughter. It made something inside her ache that _this_ is what Voldemort had taken from her. "Did she...did she die?"

"She said she was alive earlier," Sirius said, staring at Hollis with veiled grey eyes. She felt the sensation of being trapped, but refused to let the feeling conquer her or show on her face. "So she's either lying to us or to Dumbledore."

"The questions is which, isn't it?" Hollis said. She looked at Dumbledore, making her voice cool. "I had every intention of being perfectly straight with you, Albus, honestly – "

" – Quit being dramatic girl, and – " Moody cut in as she made a movement to stand. She couldn't because of whatever spell had been used and she cursed herself mentally for forgetting, and then silently and wandless canceled it.

"It's not dramatic, Moody," she said as she did so. "I simply refuse to work with someone I can't trust; it's not conducive to a long life. And it's General, Field Marshal, or Grey – not girl. Not miss."

"You're not in your time, _girl_ – you have no title and I have doubts as to the validity of your name," Moody said, his face darkening.

"Of course you do," Severus cut in. "You'd be stupid not too. If you appeared somewhere you didn't know after a battle, would you be handing out your real name? Aren't you always harping on about 'constant vigilance'?"

Moody glared at him. "Are you defending her?"

"I'm being logical – something you could stand to be more of," Severus said disdainfully. "If that's defending her, then I suppose I am."

"Why _did_ you give her the antidote?" Kingsley asked curiously, his dark eyes boring into Severus'. Most would probably be disturbed by it, but Severus didn't even acknowledge how intense his gaze was, only returning it with an impassive stare of his own.

"You really want the Dark Lord's killer bearing a grudge against you for forcibly prying answers from her?" Severus asked, adding incredulity to his disdainful tone. "That's _brilliant_. Besides," he added in a casual yet hostile voice that only Severus could achieve, "I remember her."

There was a second of silence as everyone stared at him with some confusion.

"What?" the mysterious man with brown and silver hair asked.

"I remember her," Severus repeated slowly, as though talking to particularly thick children. It was a tone that Hollis well remembered her and, coupled with her surroundings, made her momentarily feel like she was a student again. "My memories of the next twenty odd years came back last night. I have yet to sort through everything, but I remember the battle that somehow brought them. I remember _her_."

The man's eyes flicked to hers. "You don't look surprised."

"I'm not. He flooed the Longbottoms to ask some questions," she said blandly.

"So you're loyal to her, then?" Moody asked suspiciously.

Severus rolled his eyes, apparently feeling he was surrounded by idiots. Hollis, despite the situation, had to repress a smile. "Only a Gryffindor could possibly take that as a statement of loyalty," he sneered.

"Well?" Moody demanded, undaunted. "Are you?"

"I would think he'd be more neutral than anything," Frank spoke up, his face flushing slightly under the stares he received. "What? He's a _Slytherin_. He'll hedge his bets and follow whoever is best situated at the moment."

"You know," Hollis drawled. "This is all based upon the presumption that he _has_ to pick. We're all on the same side, in case you've forgotten."

"But weren't you planning on leaving?" asked one of the red headed twins.

"I was considering it," she said. "But splitting our resources because I'm annoyed with Albus won't end this war faster. So what _did_ you call this meeting for? Surely it wasn't to simply drug me?" she asked, looking at Dumbledore, who had been watching her and Severus. She didn't like the unreadable glimmer in his eyes, but, as customary, kept her features smooth and impassive.

"I admit, it was part of the reason," he said almost candidly. Minerva gave him a sharp look that promised a chat later and Hollis inwardly smirked. She loved her former head of house. "The other part was to use what information we gained to form a better plan."

"Well that worked out perfectly," she said evenly. "What now?"

"You could be a little more helpful, you know," remarked the stately blonde woman.

"Albus could be a little less potion-happy. No one's pleased, are they? Besides, I don't know what's going on. You'd be better off asking Severus," she said.

As one, the group looked to Severus, who didn't even bat an eye. He started talking, describing at length the situation they currently found themselves in a plain, bleak terms, probably more for Hollis' benefit than the others and she carefully compared it to the various stages of war she was familiar with. It was both more delicate and less pressing at the same time.

Delicate because _politics,_ Merlin help her, were still in play; the government hadn't been taken over and systematically desensitized and stripped of anything good about it. In Hollis' time, before the Americans had even been targeted, the Ministry was all but gone and wholly ignored by just about everyone. It was a joke that hadn't even lasted to see the Twin Towers fall.

And to these people, Voldemort – in their terms – was still a large threat, though the Ministry was still going pretty strong and the Order was pretty whole, having suffered only minimal casualties so far. Hollis presumed that Voldemort hadn't started targeting individual members quite yet, though it was sure to happen soon. That, and Voldemort, in Severus' words, was saner and less apt to rash actions in this time. He was still the charismatic leader that drew so many in.

Which was a little troubling, but still, in Hollis' eyes, the situation wasn't anywhere near as dire as it had been even as early as '97.

"So?" the stately blonde – Hollis really needed to get her name – asked when he finished summing it up.

Hollis thought carefully but swiftly, conjuring up a card deck as she did so. "I think better when I have something to do with my hands," she said simply as she got incredulous looks.

As far as she could see, there were three options open to them –

One: Go on the offense. Shake up the Ministry – which, with a few well-placed words, and this would be the one time Hollis would consider Rita Skeeter useful, wouldn't be difficult – and call for a vote of no confidence to get better officials in if necessary. Essentially: crack down hard on Voldemort. They were already coming down pretty hard – Unforgiveables had been declared legally acceptable for Auror use – but there was more that could be done, Hollis was sure, they just had to find it.

But the possible result was Voldemort either, A, subduing for a moment, then striking out even more harshly against the Wizarding world, or, B, skipping the subduing and going straight to upping the ante. He might even get paranoid at their sudden brazen and start keeping a closer eye on his Horcruxes, which would only hinder Hollis and Severus in going after them. While they planned on taking them out after his death, it was still possible for him to move them before it – or, Merlin forbid, attempt to make his seventh one before Halloween.

Two: they could keep chugging along as they were now. It was a relatively safe option as Hollis generally knew how things would play out this way, but at the same time, would still lead to painful, horrible deaths for some of the people in this room. Hollis would prefer to avoid that if at all possible. However, without their interference, it would most likely be easier for her and Severus to plot and successfully carry out their self-given mission. And, on a personal note, what they didn't know about how far Hollis and Severus were willing to go to achieve their ends couldn't hurt them.

Three: Hollis could spill. Everything. Her real name, her life, and the plot that she was currently building with Severus. It would, she was sure, give her all the resources she would need from the Order.

But that would, inevitably, lead to dealing with James and Sirius and Lily and Remus and...everybody who would now look at her through the eyes of _This is James and Lily's daughter?_ And Merlin only knew the flak she'd catch from them about Severus. Not that she particularly cared about that. She loved him. She was sure that he either loved her or was very close to it. They wouldn't be able to change that. But it still wasn't something she wanted to deal with.

She wasn't ready to go into detail about her life, about all the death and horror and destruction in it. In _their_ futures if they didn't stop the monster now. She didn't want that burden hanging over them.

So what the best option? What would cost them, as a whole, the least?

Physically, probably option three, but mentally, probably option two. It was the path of least resistance, the path that they would've gone on naturally.

She started to reach under the table to subtle get Severus' attention when she felt his mind brush against hers. She had no problem opening up and sending along her thoughts. As he considered it, she finished off the game of Double Speed she had been playing. She reshuffled and started again, noting that the Order members were getting antsy.

Hollis got half way through when Severus' mind spoke to hers –

_You know,_ he said simply. _You just don't want to do it._

She sent an impression of a frown along their connection. _Of course I don't – I don't...I don't know how to deal with it. I don't want them to know their daughter turned out like_ this.

_If anything, they should be proud of you_ , he replied back fiercely. _Not everyone could bear what you have and come out whole._

The words warmed her heart and eased her fears a bit, but it wasn't enough to fully send them off.

_Am I? Whole, I mean..._ she wondered. _I don't always feel very whole..._

_You're as whole as it gets_ , he said soberly. _I don't think anyone could walk away from that without some scars and issues to deal with._

Hollis took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her hands going still as she stared at her two rows of cards. For a long moment, neither her nor Severus said anything and she tried to ease the tight feeling in her chest.

"Alright," she said, gathering up her cards and then vanishing them. She lifted her eyes, looking at where James, Lily, Remus, and Sirius were sitting. "Honest to God truth – I'm Hollis Potter. No," she hurried on before they could say anything, "I didn't want to admit it. I still don't. You shouldn't know that your daughter turned out like me, that she had the past I do. None of you should know things like that," she added, looking around at everyone else gravely. "Once you know, short of an Obliviation, you can't _un_ know it."

Her gaze landed back on Lily and the others. They looked surprised and like they were trying to make something compute, all of their eyes – so full of emotions that they were hard to read – fixed on her face, absorbing it's features and probably trying to match it to Lily and James', to little Hollis'.

"That being said," she said after a moment, keeping her face as dispassionate as she could, "I am going to keep going by Elizabeth Grey. I'm not really Hollis Potter anymore – Hollis is a baby with no concept of who or what Voldemort is, and if everything goes according to plan, she never will; first hand, anyway."

She paused again, and James took the opportunity to speak. "You're still family," he said firmly, "whether you go by Hollis, Elizabeth, or Jill."

Hollis blinked at him and raised her brows slightly. "On one condition."

He raised his brows in return. "You can't negotiate family," he said a little incredulously.

"You'll find I do a great many things that people say I can't," she said dryly.

"Understatement," Severus muttered under his breath. She nudged him with her boot under the table, holding back a slight smile.

"Fine," James said, missing Severus' statement though Remus' eyes shifted to the man for the briefest second, narrowing a hair. "What is it?"

"You have to be at least civil to Severus. As the sole remaining member of my former army and the closest friend I have, he's going to be around," she said. She could address their more personal relationship later. "I refuse to deal with a petty school grudge that should've died when you lot graduated."

Severus shot her a look that she ignored and James and Sirius looked far from thrilled.

"Seriously?" Sirius asked, his mouth curling with disdain and disgust.

"Absolutely," she said, all her iron will behind it and her eyes narrowing a hair.

"Who's to say _he'll_ even agree?"

Hollis looked at Severus, who arched a brow, then lifted his shoulders slightly. "Not even a token protest?" she asked, faint amusement coloring her tone.

He made a scoffing noise. "They're hardly the worst thing I've had to deal with," he said flatly. Then his mouth twitched, his black eyes glinting as he impassively regarded the three Marauders. _Furthermore,_ he added mentally, _should they truly become trying, I'm quite sure I know some curses that have yet to be invented in this time that I can put to great use_.

Hollis let the tips of her mouth curl upwards. "See?" she told Sirius, who crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.

"Okay," James said after a moment of looking at his friend with a faintly creased brow. His hazel eyes flicked to Severus, then back to her violet ones. "That's fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so I'm flying to France (yay!) on Monday, and I'm going to have a very busy few days after I get back on 17th, so this is probably the last chapter for at least a couple of weeks. Just so everyone knows.


	10. Open Eyes

Severus would never admit it, not even under torture, but he was a little proud of James Potter and a bit grateful that he had grown up and matured.

Hollis most likely wouldn't have taken it very personally or been hurt for very long if Potter refused to deal with Severus for her sake, but Severus thought it was better than she have some sort of positive relationship with the people who would've been her parents, especially now that she had admitted her identity to them.

Black, however...Severus was sure he could find a perfect curse for him. He had been an even bigger part of Hollis' life than James and his death had been one of the hardest on her, as he was the first person she lost that she had been truly close too. Cedric, tragic and traumatic as that was, hadn't had nearly the same closeness, and circumstances had been too swift for her to do anything. He knew that she had blamed herself for Black's death because he wouldn't have been at the Ministry if she hadn't been tricked.

"Why are your eyes violet?" Lupin asked after a slight pause in which Hollis gave James a slight nod and tiny smile.

"Potion mishap," she said. "I was trying to fix my vision – I got D – James' and losing my glasses in a fight was a bad experience. However, something was a bit off in it, so it changed my eye color too."

"Oh."

"So what now?" Edgar Bones asked. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Keep on keeping on," she said simply. "I'm working on a plan to get to Voldemort."

"He's sure to be at a fight at some point," Bones mused.

"That's not good enough," Hollis said immediately, shaking her head. "He'll flee the moment he realizes he's finally met his match, prophecy or not. I want him _pinned_ ," she said fiercely, her jaw getting that tilt that made her look implacable, "and I want to take out his Inner Circle as well."

Some of the Order seemed to unconsciously straighten. It was a common reaction when she stated things like that, Severus had found. She could exude confidence in the most subtle and enticing of ways. That, and people _wanted_ to believe there was someone out there audacious enough to take on Voldemort and his Inner Circle directly. Not even Dumbledore was willing to seek them out.

"Do you have an actual plan or is that just an ambition?" Moody challenged.

Hollis leaned back in her chair comfortably, crossing her legs under the table. Severus felt the shift in the air – Hollis was back in her element and Dumbledore just lost control of the meeting. He had to work not to smirk.

"I'm working on a plan," she said.

"Care to explain?" Moody asked impatiently.

"It's pretty simple – attack Voldemort's base of operations just after a meeting gets under way," she said. "I believe he is in Lestrange Manor currently – and for the Aurors in here, leave it _alone_. Severus will help get the timing right, but it'll be a little bit until then as there are a myriad of things to get through to get this pulled off successfully."

"I want in," Potter said immediately. Several echoed his sentiment but Hollis held up a simple hand. It quieted instantly.

"I will promise no one a spot," she said. "I will construct a team when the time is right and not a moment before then. When I do make the team, I will only take the ones best suited to the plan and for dueling the Inner Circle or Voldemort himself if the need arises."

"But – !" Potter started to protest.

"No buts," she said firmly. "I intend to limit potential casualties as much as possible, and that means you _have_ to be the best of the best – or, depending on what needs to be done, good and trainable."

"We could train while assessing the property and structure," Severus put in, tapping one finger on the arm of his chair. "There is something to the phrase 'strength in numbers'. All we need is secrecy until the moment of and afterwards, numbers will help."

Hollis considered that. "Very well," she said, looking around. "You all want in?" They nodded. "Then lets go." She stood and Severus stood with her.

"What?" Minerva said. "To where? Why?"

"A room up on the seventh floor," Hollis said, "and for testing. I need to know what I'm working with."

"Now?" Black asked.

" _Yes_ , now," she said. "You either come with me now or not at all."

"Ever?" Bones clarified, standing.

"Ever," she confirmed.

"That's extreme, don't you think?" Dumbledore asked, standing as well and wearing that look that indicated he was very curious and interested, but didn't intend to show it.

"No," Hollis said flatly. Without answering anything else, she strode from the room, Severus easily keeping pace beside her. They heard the scrap of chairs behind them and footsteps hurrying to follow.

"Dark hair with silver?" she asked very lowly.

"Edgar Bones."

"Stately blonde?"

"Emmeline Vance."

"Honey blonde, blue eyes?"

"Dorcas Meadows."

"Man with McGonagall?"

"Amyntas Willem, this years Defense professor."

"Red heads?"

"Prewett twins."

She gave a short nod. "Got it. We need to construct a questionnaire of sorts for them to fill out – I need to _know_ them – and they can do that before or after dueling with you or myself. Both, if we think they can handle it."

Severus nodded, starting to construct questions in his mind that would be helpful. They walked the rest of the way to the Room of Requirements in silence. She paced in front of the blank wall three times and a plain wooden door appeared. She tugged it open, leading into a spacious antechamber with several comfortable chairs placed along the walls and on the far wall, there was another wooden door. Presumably the door led to a dueling room because, while large-ish, the room they were currently standing in was certainly not fit for testing.

They turned, standing in front of the door, and watched as the others filed in. Everyone came, Dumbledore and Moody bringing up the rear.

"General Grey," Minerva said when she entered, "I do not wish to be part of the attack, but if there is any other way I can help, I would like too."

Hollis smiled sincerely at her and Severus couldn't stop the slight tightening of his lungs and the flip of his stomach. She smiled like that so rarely. "I didn't expect any different and I'll be sure to remember that."

"Good. If that is all...?"

"It is. Thanks, Professor."

Minerva blinked a little, then smiled slightly. "What house were you in?"

"Gryffindor, though I almost went to Slytherin," she answered, a faint, fond look on her face.

Minerva's smile brightened and pride entered her face. "Wonderful," she said. "And I believe you can call me Minerva, dear."

"Thanks again, Pro – Minerva," Hollis said. Minerva gave her a nod and left the room.

"Gryffindor?" Potter said happily from where he was sitting on the arm of Lily's chair.

"Almost Slytherin," Hollis reminded him, raising her brows a little.

Potter waved a hand. "You didn't actually end up there. Did you play Quidditch?"

"I think we should be getting to the point," Severus put in dryly.

"Of course," Hollis said. A stack of parchments and a box of self-inking quills appeared on a low table at the center of the room. "Those are questionnaires I'd like you to fill out – _yes_ , I'm serious. You can do it before or after you duel, but I want those before the night is out, even if you have to owl it to me. Don't answer if you don't want too, but don't lie. Mr. Bones, if you'd come with me – oh, and bring your survey with you..." She turned without waiting for confirmation and went through the door.

Bones stood from the chair he was sitting in and silently followed her into the room, Severus going in after him and shutting the door. He stayed off to the side, using a personal ward that would keep wayward spells from hitting him.

"Don't hold back, Mr. Bones," Hollis said, raising her wand.

"I won't," he said, raising his own. And then they started, Severus watching them both intently.

~~~

James waited anxiously as, one by one, everyone was taken into the room. None reappeared, apparently going to a different room once it was over. Snape was the only one to emerge after Edgar had been taken in. He had simply grabbed a parchment and quill and left again, coolly disregarding everyone.

James watched him, thinking about his relationship with older Hollis - _Elizabeth Grey_ , he mentally corrected. _That's the name she wants to go by._

Few could call Snape friend and fewer still could have him so easily acquiesce to being around James and Sirius and _not_ fight with them. But then, Snape was older mentally. Perhaps he had changed from the ill-tempered, bitter teen that James could very clearly remember. His face was certainly a lot more impassive than before. Snape had, James could tell, iron control over himself – just like Hol – Elizabeth did.

He dwelled a lot on that – Elizabeth's control, her thin figure and too old eyes, and her desire to separate herself from him and Lily and her younger self. He admitted, it hurt a little. Why was her first reaction to keep herself distant? What had happened to his not-so-little little girl? He knew pieces – what she told them last night and then her story from earlier, and, of course, what he had presumed based off of that, her general attitude, and the way she had looked when she arrived the night previously – but there was so much he didn't know. He knew she had been a Gryffindor, but she had almost gone to Slytherin. How much of her was each? If he had had to pick before knowing her name, he'd have said Slytherin without hesitation.

"James," Sirius said from next to him, "if you squeeze that quill any harder, it's going to snap."

James, startled out of his reverie, looked down at his hand and relaxed his white-knuckled grip. "Oops," he said, trying for a light heartedly smile and, based of Sirius' raised eyebrows, failing miserably. He sighed gustily. The only people left in the room was him, Lily, Sirius, the Defense professor, Willem, and Frank Longbottom.

"Weighing on your mind, is it?" Willem remarked.

James didn't know him all that well, but he seemed to be a good sort – Dumbledore _had_ let him into their smaller Order meetings. He nodded. "Kind of hard for it not too, don't you think?"

Willem nodded and made a small gesture, conceding the point.

"Say, Frank," Sirius said suddenly. Frank looked over at him, brown eyes a little wary. "Did you know?"

"Know what?" Frank asked cautiously. Sirius sat forward a little, narrowing his focus onto Frank and James felt a little bad for the man. Sirius could be rather like a blood hound when he was onto something.

" _Grey's_ real name."

Frank's expression smoothed out. "Yeah, but she didn't tell me. I just found something with her name on it."

"What?"

"That's none of your business."

"Come on, Frank, we're not going to tell."

"Funny – I told her the same thing. Forget it, Sirius," Frank said firmly. "It's her business and hers alone."

"She'll appreciate that," a cold voice put in, making James jump a little. He hadn't even noticed the door opening or Snape standing there. Sirius rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, Snape's unreadable eyes met James'. He jerked his chin a little, indicating silently that James was up. James nodded, standing and Snape slipped back through the door noiselessly.

"He's gotten creepier," Sirius muttered.

James patted his friend on the shoulder and flashed a smile at Lily, who returned it.

When he entered the room, being sure to shut the door behind him, his gaze swept around it and he wondered, not for the first time, where they were. There was nothing like this on the Marauder's Map.

It was a huge room with a vaulted ceiling and smooth stone flooring. Muggle lighting hung from metal bars above and Hol – Elizabeth stood at the far end, completely still but her eyes watching him in an unnerving manner. Snape was off to the side about halfway between James and Elizabeth, sitting behind a desk in a stiff looking chair, his back perfectly erect as he read through a survey. Another door was half hidden in shadows, on Elizabeth's side of the room and off to the right. That was probably where all the others went through.

"You can set your stuff on Sev's desk if you'd like. Did you finish it?" Elizabeth asked, making him jump inside.

"Er..." he said. He had only written his name. "Not yet."

"Then you can take it again when you leave," she said.

"Okay," he said. He moved towards Snape's desk, getting the odd feeling of being back in school again. Maybe it was just being in Hogwarts, maybe it was the having to 'turn in' something, and maybe it was just the air of absolute calmness she exuded, as though she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing could touch her, that she had nothing to be worried about. It made him feel young – not at all like the promising Auror he was.

He put his thin stack of parchment face down on the corner of Snape's desk, about as far from him as it could get. For some reason, when Snape glanced up for the briefest moment, James got the feeling that he was being laughed at and flushed slightly.

James turned away quickly, going to take a spot opposite Elizabeth.

"What no – " he started to ask, but she struck. He stumbled to the side, utterly surprised and pulled his wand as quickly as he could.

~~~

James reacted at a respectable time, Hollis had to admit, but she felt like he was holding back, which was frustrating. The goal of this wasn't to defeat them as quickly as she could – it wouldn't be hard to do that – but to test them, to get a feel for their dueling, to how they reacted, to what spells or combinations they favored. And with him holding back, he was hindering that.

"Enough!" she called sharply, pulling up and watching him with a flat expression. His face was pink and his breathing heavier, but he didn't seem too winded, which implied he was in relatively decent shape. She moved her focus from him to Severus, raising her brows slightly. "Seeing what I am?" she asked.

He was looking at the surveys. "If you're talking about him holding back, yes."

"I am _not_ – " James protested. Snape silenced him with a stern look that Hollis well recognized from numerous Potions lessons and detentions. It eased when he looked at her next. She just looked back, silently asking what to do to get him to stop.

"He's a lot like you," Severus pointed out. " _Defensive_."

For a moment, she didn't get it – but then she did and an idea struck her. "Thank you, Severus, for that illuminating statement," she said, starting for the door that led to the antechamber. "Stay here, James."

"What's going on?" she heard James ask presumably her, but neither she nor Severus answered and she stuck her head through the door, locating Lily for a moment.

"Lily? If you would join us?" she asked politely.

Lily nodded, bringing here stuff with her. "James is done already? Doesn't it normally take longer?"

Hollis hadn't even thought about how time was passing for those that waited. "Not quite. I'm going to require your assistance," she said, stepping back to let Lily slide by her, then shutting the door. "Just...follow my lead."

"What are you doing?" James asked again, this time a little suspicious.

Hollis, once more, didn't answer, telling Lily she could set her parchment on the desk like James had. She did so and Hollis directed her to stand behind where Hollis had been originally standing. She waved her wand, conjuring up a decent look-a-like of her baby self and putting it in Lily's arms. Lily gave her a bewildered look as Hollis circled around behind, putting her hands on Lily's shoulders, silently putting her in a bodybind.

"This is how it's going to work, James," she said, ignoring the mildly panicked, confused look on his face. "Lily and fake-Hollis are now my hostages. You have to get past me to save them. Don't worry about injuring her – Severus will stand guard, won't you?"

"If I must," Severus said, standing and walking their way. Hollis remove her hands from Lily's shoulders and stepped in front her, moving forward about six yards.

"You must," she said. "Clear, James?"

He looked at her, mildly outraged. "You can't be serious."

"Perfectly."

She waited for Severus to be standing to Lily's side, looking bored and disinterested, and then struck.

~~~

James dodged Elizabeth's spells, inwardly angry. How dare she use Lily, her own _mother,_  like this? He pushed any thoughts of her being a future version of his daughter aside and started casting. Elizabeth wore a fierce expression as she put him through the paces, one that reminded him sharply of the blood covered woman from the night before.

At first, James was cautious of what spells he threw, but then saw that Snape really was going to shield Lily, and he started casting like he never had before, not even for the tests that he had gone through to get into the Auror Academy. When he picked up his pace, throwing more serious spells out at a faster, more accurate rate, there was a flash of something like triumph in Elizabeth's cold, violet eyes and she pushed him even harder.

It was disturbing – _this_ is what his daughter grew up into being. This cold, war-minded young woman who probably trusted Snape far more than anyone else was his daughter.

She was right about warning them earlier. He couldn't just forget this, and, at the moment, didn't know if that was good or bad. He felt an immediate pang of guilt for thinking that and reminded himself to just be grateful that she had survived in one whole, seemingly unscathed piece. Whatever and however she did it, she had. She had defeated Voldemort and planned to do it again. He should be proud and relieved.

Though, as a fire hex whizzed past his face, he decided what he _should_ be doing was focusing, not dwelling on his internal conflict.

By the end of it, he was tired but strangely satisfied with the nod she gave him.

"You've rescued your damsel," she said, stepping aside and flicking her wand at Lily, who backed away from her and Severus, dropping the doll, which vanished before it hit the ground.

"You're both mad," she said as James moved to her side, unable to himself as he hugged her tightly. He knew, logically, she had never been in danger, but the whole thing rankled and dragged his worst fears to the surface when he preferred to bury them deep inside.

"Meh," Elizabeth said dismissively. "You're up, Lily. Do I need to use James as a hostage or are you going to go all out?" she asked seriously.

"I'll go all out," Lily said, pursing her lips afterwards. "Go on, James."

James hesitated, but summoned his parchment and quill and went through the back side door, finding few of the others there. Only Remus, Dumbledore, and Alice had stuck around – everyone else was gone. The room was room almost identical to the other one, but with different, more relaxed looking chairs. Another door was against the far wall and James wondered where it went.  It said ' _Exit_ ', so it most likely took them back out into the main hall of Hogwarts, where they had originally entered.

"Hey," Remus said, looking up from his questionnaire. "How'd it go? It took you longer than everyone else so far."

James huffed and flopped into the chair next to him. "Her and Snape both said I was holding back, so they used Lily and a fake baby as hostages. I had to 'rescue' her."

Remus' eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes," James said, scowling slightly.

"And?"

"I tried as hard as I could to match Hol – Elizabeth," James said. "She seemed satisfied, but who knows? How'd you do?"

"I think I did alright. Didn't say much, really," Remus said. "Her and Snape just traded one of those looks that you _know_ means more than you can possibly guess and then pointed me through this door, saying there was another door I could leave through if I wanted."

James frowned a little, but didn't say anything. He had a questionnaire to fill out.


	11. That's a Wrap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just realized that I never told you how my trip went, so FYI, even if you don't care: France was freaking AMAZING (though, I got sick the first two days and spent most of our time in Paris in a hotel room). The weather was cold and sunny and utterly gorgeous.
> 
> We left Pairs, hit up the Normandy and Brittany regions; spent a whole day dedicated to World War II stuff - the Caen Memorial, Omaha beach (one of the two beaches Americans stormed on D-Day), which led straight into the American Cemetery (where I was fortunate enough to be in time to see a family dedicating some flower to their ancestors, which made them play TAPS and the National Anthem, it was very touching, I cried), four old German batteries called 'Le Chaos' (I'm pretty sure), Pointe du Hoc (Texas Rangers, baby!) - saw the most beautiful cathedral ever, the Basilique Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, which supposedly holds the shroud of Mary, mother of Jesus, brought back to France from ye olde crusades, and so many other things. 
> 
> I learned cheese factories are the nastiest smelling things, saw where Jeanne D'Arc was tried twice and then burned at the stake, saw the La Manche (the French name for the English Channel, which means the sleeve), and I could go on forever. Saint Malo, Mont St. Michel, ect...Our last day, we came back to Pairs, and I got to go see part of the Bohemian district, the Painter's corner, and the Effiel Tower, which I did not go up because I was DONE with stairs by that point. 
> 
> Plus, plane rides. I hated being stuck basically in one spot for nine flipping hours, but in just about any other respect (except maybe the food), I LOVE FLYING. It's so gorgeous being up there, seeing God's handiwork. 
> 
> So, yeah. HIGHLY recommend hitting up France sometime. I went through EF Tours, which saved me having to sort out all the details on my own, but do as thy will. 
> 
> :D

* * *

Hollis watched Amyntas Willem closely when he walked in, the last of the group. She knew the least about him – she had heard of Dorcas Meadows, Edgar Bones, and the Prewett twins' names before at least – and, as he was qualified (more or less; Merlin knew the jokes she had for teachers in her time) to teach Defense, she presumed that he would take longer than the others, even more so than Dumbledore and Moody, whose fighting styles she knew fairly well.

"Mr. Willem," she said as a greeting.

"General Grey," he returned with a solemn, respectful nod. It made him seem older than his rather youngish face suggested. She'd put him at just about thirty. He shut the door behind him and simply floated his parchment to rest on the side of Severus' desk. He didn't get any closer to her than he had to be, moving to take an identical position at the far end of the room from her.

She inwardly smiled; this, she could tell, would be interesting.

And it was – he was good, _very_ good. Not quite up to her and Severus' standards, but then, no one was, and he was at least on par with Moody and Dumbledore, though he lacked the power and outrageous creativity of Dumbledore. He was the first one, she was swift to notice, that implemented chain spells – which were spells where the end of the wand movement for one spell was also the beginning of another, which saved precious seconds in battle but required a very quick, adaptive mind to implement. That technique hadn't become well known and used until the late nineties.

By the end of their duel, which lasted at least forty minutes as she tested him in every way she could think of, she felt suitably satisfied that he could really match the best of the Inner Circle.

"Enough!" she said sharply. He immediately pulled back, lowering his wand. He was breathing harder than hers and his face was flushed from his efforts, as was hers, and she gave him a solemn nod. "You're very good, Mr. Willem."

"Thank you, but I get the feeling that, if you truly wanted, you could out-class me. You're... _gifted_ ," he said sincerely, looking impressed as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "People like you are extraordinarily rare. Not even Albus can fully match you, can he?" She felt her face burn. Thankfully, her face was already flushed and he wouldn't be able to see it darkening slightly from the distance they stood at, and she didn't answer. He gave her a sort of knowing look. "I'm not at all surprised to hear that you defeated Voldemort."

"Thank you, Mr. Willem," she said simply. "Tell me, has Voldemort tried to recruit you or do you simply keep a very low profile? No matter your blood status, he would give quite a bit to have someone like you in his circle."

He looked surprised for a moment, then laughed. He gestured around him. "That's why I'm here. Not only does Albus need a teacher, but I need a safe place to live."

Hollis nodded and then turned to Severus, who was standing, the parchment and desks gone. "Ready?" she asked, noting the door on Willem's end of the room was turning back into stone. He gave a single nod and she gestured for the two men to follow her. Her neck prickled and she was distinctly aware that Willem was watching her. Severus likely was as well, but he was just too...subtle to make it felt.

Stiffly, she held the door to the second antechamber open and the two men slipped past her with nods. She let it shut and fade back to stone, noting that only the Potters, the Longbottoms, Remus, and Sirius were left besides her, Willem, and Severus.

"That took a million years," Sirius said. He had gone directly before Willem.

"He's good," she said.

"She's better," Willem countered.

She gave him a flat look, wondering why he had added it in, but only said, "I had better be. Any particular reason you lot are hanging around?"

"To talk, of course," James said, looking quite set on it. That little spot that had ached earlier warmed, though she didn't show it.

"Very well," she said, taking a seat and putting her right leg over her left. Severus leaned against the wall only a foot or so from her chair, crossing his arms.

"I'm going to go," Willem said after a slight pause.

"Goodnight, Mr. Willem."

"You don't have to add the 'mister', General," were his parting words.

"He _so_ likes you," Lily said with a sort of gleeful surprise the second the door closed behind him.

~ ~ ~

Hollis blinked at Lily.

" _What?_ " she asked, a hint of incredulity coloring her tone.

Severus had, of course, noticed that, but was hoping that it wouldn't come to Hollis' attention. He severely doubted that Willem posed him any kind of a threat, but he was not a man that left things to chance. The less Hollis noticed it, the better – which would've gone along perfectly if Lily hadn't spoken up.

Alice, at least, knew that Severus had a vested interest in keeping Willem off Hollis' radar and was probably willing to either aid him or at least not point it out. The other men most likely hadn't even noticed with the possible exception of Black, womanizer that he was, and Severus doubted he'd encourage anything – and all those facts meant that Hollis probably never have interpreted Willem's gaze that way; for all her talents and insight into other matters, she had always been bemused in the face of male admiration because she had never had any real reason to figure it out. She always had something more important to tend to.

"Willem. Whatever you said or did to the poor man has got him making eyes at you," Lily said innocently. "Did you really not notice?"

"Er, no. No, I did not," Hollis muttered, a frown on her face as she glanced at the door. "I mean, I felt him staring at my back but I thought was because of the duel..."

"His gaze was a little lower than that," Black pointed out with a borderline lecherous grin. Hollis couldn't repress a blush, though it wasn't overly noticeable to anyone but him and maybe Lupin, and Severus found he rather liked the look of her being a little flustered.

"Oh," she said in a smaller than usual voice.

_That,_ he did not like.

"He's going to be _so_ disappointed," Alice said with an amused shake of her head. Her eyes widen a little as everyone looked at her and she pressed her lips together. Hollis' blush deepened and the frown on her face smoothed out.

Severus tensed slightly, wondering how this was going to play out. There were few ways it could go, really...

"Why?" Potter asked, the hurried to add, "I'm not...you know... _encouraging_ anything, but..." He trailed off awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Um," Alice said, looking at Hollis a little regretfully.

"He'll be disappointed because I'm already with Severus," she said, her voice and face perfectly serene with just a hint of happiness in her face. Severus considered it, and then let himself wear a small smirk at their aghast faces. To a one, minus the Longbottoms, they had wide eyes and open mouths, their eyes flicking between him and Hollis.

"You _must_ be joking!" Black exclaimed first.

"I am not," she said, her head tilting slightly to the side in a sort of defiant way that Severus sincerely doubted anyone but Lupin would take note of. And even Lupin was unaware of the danger that it presented should her anger be further aroused. She didn't fly off the handle, ruled by her emotions, as she formerly did, but her wrath was all the less desirable to procure because of it – it meant that one had definitely stepped far out of the bounds she was willing to allow – and her high skill level made it an even bigger threat than an average person's anger was.

"Okay – for one, it's Sni – _Snape_ ," Black said. "For two, isn't he like, I don't know, _twenty_ years older than you?"

"Your first argument is invalid. I would hardly date him if he _wasn't_ Severus," Hollis said coolly. "As for your second one, we live on average a hundred and thirty years – twenty years isn't that big of a difference."

"Furthermore, physically, she's actually older than I am by several months," Severus spoke up, quite enjoying Black's dark expression. Getting under anyone's skin was enjoyable, but Black never could hide his feelings, which made it even more amusing for Severus. The only person he enjoyed nettling more was Lucius because the Ice King's facade so rarely cracked under anyone else's words. He tended to do that less often, however, due to the friendship they shared. "Mentally, however, yes, I'm older, though not, I think, as much I might otherwise be. War tends to age people, particularly Field Marshals."

"Screw age," Potter said, his face set like stone and his eyes suspicious. "Didn't you say only remember a little bit?"

"Is lying a foreign concept to you?" Severus asked dryly, withholding a sneer. He had agreed to play nice and it wouldn't do to go back on his word.

"You _lied_ to Dumbledore?" Potter clarified. "You remember everything?"

"Yes, and should that fact present itself to Dumbledore, it's you I'm holding responsible," Severus said darkly, giving Potter the coldest look he could muster. He was pleased to see the man pale and shift uncomfortably, trying to escape his gaze but unable too.

"Why?" Lupin asked reasonably. "I mean, why not tell Dumbledore the truth?"

"So he can try to drug me like he did Elizabeth? I think not," Severus said.

"Thank you again, Severus, for giving me the antidote," Hollis said.

"Not to say that I wouldn't have in any other circumstance, but in this one, I hardly had a choice," Severus pointed out neutrally.

Hollis gave him a small smile and shook her head. "I know. I go down, you would've gone down with me. Still, the old man _did_ get what he wanted," she added, the smallest crease forming on her forehead again. It was the equivalent of someone else throwing something. She was very displeased with having to admit her birth name.

"What he got was upstaged," Severus said, letting a tinge of satisfaction color his tone. The crease eased a little, just as he intended. "He had very little do with the meeting by the end and he couldn't even attempt regaining control without coming off the worse."

"Why are you so set against Dumbledore?" Lily asked.

"We're not," they both said at the same time.

"However, I've also been on my own for the last several years. I am not going to nor will I ever answer to someone else," Hollis said, an imperious edge to her tone. "Particularly someone who just attempted to dose me with Veritaserum."

"And you?" Lupin asked Severus. "What's your deal with him?"

Severus considered not answering him – if he wasn't careful, Dumbledore could easily fish it from Lupin or one of the others' heads, but then, would it be terrible to have Dumbledore know that Severus was no longer firmly in his camp? Or as firmly as he was formerly anyway. And the likelihood of Dumbledore actually using Legilimency against them was very slender; he only resorted to that with Severus when he had need of it.

"I've spent more than half my life serving as a spy between two men who go from mildly senile to outright lethally insane," he said after a moment. "The past few years have been predominately under the later with occasional escapes to the somewhat stable sanity of the bases. Elizabeth offers the quickest and best route to getting out of it altogether."

That, and the only thing he valued more highly than his freedom from the burden of spying was Hollis herself, and he knew that even if he bowed out of the game before Voldemort was fully defeated, she wouldn’t hold it against him. She’d help him, hide him, and defend him if it came down to it. Not to say that she’d be _pleased_ , but she had offered him outs before, understanding to some degree the strain he was constantly under.

"It has nothing to do with your personal relationship, then?" Potter said suspiciously.

Severus did sneer at that.

"I am not careless enough to let personal thoughts cloud my logic, Potter," he said disdainfully. "That's a one way ticket to a short lifespan in my business."

Potter blinked.

"You stayed with Alice last night, didn't you?" Lily inquired in the lull that followed. Hollis nodded. "Are you going to stay with her or with Severus?"

Severus had to admit, his thoughts had not gotten that far and based off the look Hollis gave him, neither had she.

"We'll figure that one out later," Hollis said neutrally after a moment. "I've got a few things to – fudge it all," she suddenly said, checking the time. It was late, nearing midnight. "Speaking of things to do, I am behind schedule."

"What've you got to do this late?" Lupin asked.

"Plausible deniability?" Alice asked at the same moment. The others looked at her strangely and Severus repressed smirk.

Hollis smiled a bit at her. "Yes," she said standing. She didn't look his way as she started to leave and she didn't have to; he followed without question.

"He follows her like a puppy," he heard Black mutter.

"That's more your thing, isn't it, _mutt?_ " Snape replied back breezily as they swept past him. He glanced down, smirking, for just a moment – shock and anger made Black's face flush – and then they were past him.

When they were in the hall, Hollis waved her wand, setting up a privacy spell so the portraits, who were undoubtedly given orders to watch for them, couldn't eavesdrop. She then gave him a dry look. "That's the second time today he's been taunted with hints about that, you know," she said. "He's going to be furious."

"If he's smart, he'll see the danger in continuing to antagonize us," Severus replied. "If we know about that, then it's very likely we know about _why_ and for _who_ they went to those lengths."

"Not that we'd use it against him," she said.

"No," he agreed. He was long past his antagonism with Lupin, at least, and while he did not consider the man a friend, particularly in this time, he wouldn't let it slip again. "But Black doesn't know that."

She chuckled quietly. "True."

They walked in silence for a ways and Severus found himself returning to the possibility of her moving in. Considering they had only just...gotten together, he supposed was the correct way to phrase it, it seemed quite fast, but at the same time, he also found that he didn't mind the idea as much as he once had. It'd be strange, definitely. He hadn't had a friendly in his home since Dumbledore's death by his hand, and he mostly kept to himself instead of mingling and backbiting with the other Death Eaters. It had been a very solitary existence that probably would've even strayed into lonely if he wasn't so accustom to holding everyone at arms-length.

Even so, he _had_ formerly spent several months of the year at Hogwarts, surrounded by students and professors, so after the old school was destroyed, he had pointedly felt the lack of company (however unwanted) and noise for a while.

Perhaps he was ready to have someone around to fill the empty space, someone he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he could trust.

~ ~ ~

"So," Severus started.

Remembering earlier, she smiled to herself and said, "So," in reply.

The corners of his mouth twitched, but he didn't fully smile, not that she expected him too, and he continued on, "We need to talk. About us."

"Aren't girls usually the ones that say that kind of stuff?"

"When have we ever been normal?"

"Point," she said, "and okay. Now?"

"If you'd like."

She peered up at him a little quizzically. "Why not? What's on your mind?"

"You moving in," he said plainly, looking back at her. "Would you like too?"

"Seems kind of quick seeing as how we _just_ started..." she started lightly, but then trailed off, realizing she had _no_ idea what they were doing. She had called it dating earlier, but was that what they were doing? "Dating?" she put in questioningly. He considered it.

"If you don't mind, I prefer the term courting. It's more serious than dating is," he said.

Hollis smiled widely, trying to quell it out of reflex more than anything, and failing. "Courting it is," she said, pleased.

"So? Moving in?" he prompted.

She thought about it for a long moment. It _was_ a little fast, but then, as he said, they weren't normal. And everything else had changed so much in so little time that she wasn't sure if she wanted to make another change or let things stay the way they were.

Hollis mentally shook her head.

This wasn't about everything else. It was about her and Severus. So did she want to live with him or not? Could she? Sharing a house wouldn't be difficult, she had lived on a base underground in London for the past couple of years and, Wizarding space or not, spells or not, there was an overall feeling of existence that let you know that you were never truly alone. There was always someone around. If he meant sharing a _room_ , that was a little different. Wizarding space had allowed everyone private quarters, even if they weren't particularly big.

So...yes to sharing a house, but a room...That was a bit intimidating, though something she didn't think she'd mind in the future.

But she couldn't think of a subtle way to get the clarification she wanted, so she went for broke. "Move into your house or into your room?"

He half-smirked wickedly. "I certainly wouldn't mind having you in my room, but I think, perhaps, we should take it a step at time."

"I'm pretty sure we're skipping several steps here," she said with a small chuckle even as she blushed a little. He made a little gesture, as if shrugging off the hypocrisy of his own statement and she smiled again. "Okay then."

"Okay what?"

"Yeah, I'll move in," she decided.

"Marvelous," he said, as though discussing the weather and Hollis laughed quietly again. Only Severus could be so calm and collected when most people were nervous about this sort of thing. She remembered Ron being half sick with the idea that Hermione, despite having been in love with him for more than a year, would tell him no when he asked her to move into his quarters. "The Avenue?" he asked a moment later.

"Yes," she said. "Background."

He nodded and they stayed silent as they continued through the halls of Hogwarts. His hand reached out to grab hers and she let their fingers intertwine again, smiling up at him and getting a small one in return. And, for the first time in what felt like a very long time, she felt...peaceful.

~ ~ ~

Alice watched Grey and Snape leave, wondering what they had on Sirius that made him color like that.

_Probably the Animagus thing. Snape's words_ definitely _make it seem like Sirius was that dog,_ she decided.

"How much else do you know about her?" James asked, the first to speak as he pinned Alice with his intent stare.

Alice didn't balk from it, though. "A little bit but not nearly enough to form a clear and accurate picture of her. And nothing that I feel I can tell you without her permission." James just looked at her for a long moment and she ignored it, turning to Frank. "We should be getting home. I'm sure your mother is tired."

He nodded, standing at the same time she did. "Probably, though you know she adores Neville."

"Wait," Lily said. "Did you know about Snape?"

"What specifically about him?" Alice asked warily.

"About their – their _relationship_ ," Sirius asked, his mouth curling unpleasantly.

"That," Lily agreed, glancing at Sirius briefly, "and that he had _all_ of his memories."

Alice considered that, trading looks with Frank. Lily was her very best friend, but she was pretty certain that Hollis didn't want to be gossiped about either. It was a moral dilemma and she automatically sought out her husband's help.

"We knew that he had his memories," Frank said. "He _did_ floo our place asking for her by name. And we kind of guessed at their relationship based off the relief on his face. I mean, Snape doesn't often look like that, you know?"

Lily nodded slowly, her face sort of troubled and thoughtful. "That's true."

Alice wondered what was going through her mind. It was utterly bizarre and all kinds of bewildering to find out that the frightening witch from the future was her goddaughter, but it wasn't the same as if it had been Neville that came back as a survivor of a such a terrible future.

"Still on for tea tomorrow?" she asked Lily.

Lily looked up at her, blinking slightly as though she had forgotten Alice was there. "What? Oh – yes, of course."

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow then." They left the room to the boys and Lily, walking slowly towards the entrance of the school hand in hand. "Thanks for lying for me in there," she told Frank after a little bit.

Frank smiled. "What kind of husband would I be if I didn't help my lovely wife and mother of my amazing son?"

Alice laughed a little, and then sighed. "I don't think I'm going to like being caught between them. It's not easy."

"No," Frank agreed, "but you'll manage. You always do."

Alice appreciated his confidence in her and they fell silent again for a while.

"Do you think we'll be asked to help?" Frank asked somewhere along the second floor. "Attack Lestrange Manor, I mean."

"I don't know – maybe," Alice said. "She didn't look overly pleased or disappointed after I dueled with her, but then, she is very...contained, so I wasn't expecting anything. What about you?"

"Same," Frank said. "I kind of hope I am. Who wouldn't want to help bring that monster and his crew down? At the same time, though, if they can get it done without me, that wouldn't be terrible. At least I know that way that nothing wayward would happen and leave you and Neville without me."

Alice nodded. "I agree with you there, but I wouldn't mind getting training all the same. It can only make us better Aurors."

Frank smiled slightly. "That's true."

Alice had another question, but eyed the portraits around her. She knew that some of them had to report to Dumbledore and she knew that Grey and Snape didn't want him to know yet. As discreetly as she could, she cast a privacy charm and then looked at her husband again.

"What _do_ you think about the whole Snape-Grey thing?"

Frank shrugged. "If they're happy, they're happy," he said. "And it's not really my business, is it?"

"Right," she agreed. "Personally, I think they're kind of cute together. They're distinctive, you know?"

"...Not really. What do you mean?"

"Well, in physical looks for one. Both are moon-pale with black hair and distinctive eyes," Alice started. "And their general personalities – as far as I can tell so far, I mean. They're both contained and mysterious, but we already know their still waters run deep and all that. They just...fit together, I guess is what I'm trying to say."

Frank was quiet for a few moments, then shrugged again. "I guess that makes sense. I just thought they softened each other."

Alice blinked, looking up at her husband quizzically. "What do you mean? When did you decide that?"

Frank shrugged for a third time. "Earlier. I mean, you saw them both when he kissed her. She looked like the sun had just come back to her world and he didn't look all that dissimilar – not that I'm telling either one of them that, mind you; I don't think they'd appreciate it all that much. And then when he arrived to head up to the school, I was curious to see how she'd react, so I was watching pretty intently, and she relaxed a very tiny bit. As far as I could tell, they didn't give anything away specifically and they kept a sort of distance for the rest of the time until after Willem left, but..." He trailed off and Alice considered it.

"You, my good sir," she told him, giving him a bright smile, "are a brilliant wizard."

He smiled back and laughed. "I would certainly hope my wife thinks so..."

She laughed and stood on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. He turned his head so she ended up kissing him on the mouth – not that Alice minded in the least.


	12. Giovanni's

Getting a background wasn't hard; Edward Von, locally known simply as Eddie, lived and worked above his daughter's apothecary shop in Arcanus, and was the best in the business according to Severus. Hollis presumed he knew far more about that than she did, and took him at his word. It cost her a fair bit, of course, but she felt it was worth it when she was presented with a large manila envelope full of bona fides.

"Now that that's done, what's left?" Severus asked her in a low tone as they went down the staircase that led up from the alley to the door of Eddie's private office.

Hollis considered it as they merged into the relatively light foot traffic on the main street. The whole area was lit by old fashioned street lamps and what looked like over two kilometers worth in strands of Christmas lights in all colors. The latest music from both worlds played just loud enough to be heard over the bustle of the street, but low enough that it still allowed for conversation. Some shops were closed by now and their families indoors and sleeping, or browsing through their local night shops. Other shops had only opened for business a few hours ago. Some stores even doubled, taking on a whole new persona each night, a little like Cinderella or whatever that Muggle tale was. Maybe the Twelve Dancing Princesses?

She wasn't sure when it had been deserted in her time exactly, but by the time America was attacked, everyone in Arcanus was gone. Not by Death Eater hands – none of the signs and destruction that Death Eaters usually left behind were there and Severus said he hadn't heard anything – but they were gone all the same. She didn't know where they had disappeared too, but the few times she had thought about it between things, she hoped they had somehow managed to maintain their autonomy and obscurity.

"Nothing that needs to be done immediately tonight," she finally said, answering Severus' earlier question. "How many surveys were turned in?"

"Only a few," he said. "The rest we shall have to wait for, if they are ever sent."

She shrugged. "I expected as much. Can you think of anything to do?"

"Do you plan on acquiring another gun?" he asked. Even though she hardly ever used it, Hollis, like everyone else thirteen and above on her base, had a gun specially made for her.

Everyone above the age of nine on her base were taught about guns – the different types, how to take them apart, put them together, clean them, general safety things, as well as how to aim and fire – under extremely strict supervision. A week before their thirteenth birthday, the child and their guardians would choose which type of gun they wanted – which was usually handguns, though larger guns like rifles and AK-47s became available after a person's 18th birthday – and it would be crafted for them. Until then, there was a large cabinet that the kids could get weapons from in case of an extreme emergency, which was the only time and the only way the cabinet could be unlocked without her magical signature.

The other bases' ages were higher – thirteen and fourteen to start learning, and gifted on their sixteenth birthdays – but she figured that guns, bizarrely enough, were the younger kids best defense. They could only learn a certain level of spell casting because of the way their magical core was still developing, and that meant that any adult magicals that had made it that far into the war could and would take them out in a heartbeat – but even a two year old could pull a trigger. With the right training, the children were lethal and could defend themselves adequately.

"I don't know," she said at last. She hadn't had her gun on her during the last battle, and therefore it wasn't with her now, but she didn't really intend on going through the effort to replace it. "I can't use it against Voldemort, and it's technically illegal to own one in the Muggle world – or it will be. I don't remember when the act was last updated. Maybe some other time."

Severus inclined his head slightly. "What about knives?"

That didn't take any thought at all. "Of course, though I never had to craft my own before. Is there a place to get them made the way we want? Do you need any?"

"Yes, and I know how to make them as well; I'll teach you," he said. "We need to get our blades here, though, and a place with a suitable level of ambient magic."

Hollis nodded; she knew that much about crafting. "That shouldn't be too difficult, right? Would Alice and Frank's work?"

"A lot of places could work – Hogwarts, Hogsmead, Diagon Alley, the Leaky Cauldron – here, even," he said. "But I do prefer a private residence. It's safer, and the Longbottoms should do. I know what kind of people they are, and the magic on that land will be better suited for our aims and blending with our own."

"Oh," was all she said in reply, following his lead across the street and back down towards Eddie's. He went past Eddie's, to the shop almost directly across from the salon/tattoo parlor she had looked at earlier with Alice. The building looked rather like a town house, only narrower, and had a black door with a blood red symbol imprinted on it.

It was a rune Hollis recognized, though it took her a moment to place it. It was an ancient predecessor of the protection rune, but it was darker and more violent than the modern one. It represented the protection you took into your own hands, the fight to protect loved ones, a home, a country, at any cost, even if it meant your own death or staining your hands and soul with cold-blooded murder.

It was a rune that Hollis felt applied to herself in a scarily apt way.

"This is Giovanni's," Severus said very quietly, breaking into her thoughts and pulling her eyes from the rune as they went up the stone steps. "He died around Christmas of '93, and his daughter – not an Arcanian despite being raised here – closed the shop, taking away the best weapons and armor shop in all of England."

Well, that explained why Hollis didn't know this shop. Time had certainly changed things, but most of the shops were family run and therefore kept their original purposes and spots, even if they expanded or narrowed down their selections in the future.

Severus entered the, contrary to the other stores, quiet and deserted building, and Hollis looked around curiously. They went down the hall a little ways, where the first set of archways were – there was one on each side of the hall, perfect mirrors of each other, and three more sets beyond that, with a plain wood door with an arched top at the very end of the hall.

The floor was hardwood in a curious shade of grey, and the decor was mostly in dark colors - dark reds and scarlets, blacks, deep blues and greys, royal purples and dashes of gold, silver, and the occasional bronze – and the set up was rather like a museum, everything kept behind glass cases. There was a spot in the room to her left that reminded her of Madam Malkin's, with a stool that you stood on, and a little counter with things like measuring tape and one of those forms laying on top. She presumed that Giovanni custom made the armor and that was where you were measured.

A faint chime had echoed through the building as they entered and it only took a moment for a short, stout man with a barrel chest and a protruding stomach to appear from the room two archways up and to the right.

He had thick, curly black and grey hair that was cut short, and a beard that was more grey than black and covered the lower half of his face. It was neatly trimmed and his goatee came to a point about an inch below his chin. His face was kind of flabby, with thick eyebrows and a bulbous nose, and he wore loose, thin robes and a vest that reminded her of an Arab. Overall, he didn't look like he knew a hard day's work, much less anything about crafting armor, but then Hollis met his dark, keen eyes and was absolutely certain that this man missed nothing.

As quickly as his eyes had been on her, they moved back to Severus.

" _Signor_ Snape!" he greeted warmly with a smile, his face brightening and becoming rather handsome. Vaguely startled by the older man's transformation, Hollis watched as he and Severus shook hands before Giovanni pulled Severus into a rib-cracking hug.

" _Signor_ Giovanni," Severus replied back when he was released, his voice a tiny bit warmer than was customary. "I am in need of your work."

Giovanni waved a hand, turning his blinding smile on her. "We will get to that later. First! Your friend. She is lovely, no?"

Hollis smiled back, deciding she kind of liked Giovanni so far. Not simply because he complimented her, though that never hurt, but because Severus clearly did; he had let Giovanni _hug_ him.

"This is Elizabeth Grey, my..." Severus paused, his brow creasing slightly. "I've no idea what to call you, really," he informed Hollis. "Girlfriend seems so childish."

"But she is special?" Giovanni cut in as Hollis smiled wider, thoroughly amused and pleased to be introduced at all as someone important.

"Yes, Gio," Severus said, sounding almost long suffering.

Giovanni looked even happier, if it was possible, and moved forward, sweeping Hollis into a hug as well, rattling off something in Italian too fast for Hollis to understand him. She couldn't help but laugh, his good mood was so infectious, and she let herself be hugged. Giovanni felt like a grandfatherly figure as he let go enough to tuck her arm into his.

He started leading her towards a backroom, declaring, "You must be quite a woman to catch our Severus' eye. He is a hard man to please, is he not?"

"He can be," she said amusedly, flicking her gaze to Severus, who was following along behind them. He didn't seem all that displeased with their detour from their course. She'd even say he looked a bit smug, most likely over Giovanni's comments. "But he's not so bad," she couldn't resist adding. "A bit like a teddy bear deep down inside."

Severus' smug look was wiped away as he gave her a dirty, half-hearted glare and Giovanni burst into hearty laughter.

"I like this one! You are a keeper, _bambina_ ," he pronounced, pushing open another wooden door, this one a normal one Hollis could find in any house in England. They had entered into a lavish kitchen – she bet she could figure out why Giovanni held the figure he did – and he sat her down at a stool at the island in the middle. Severus sat next to her and Hollis watched her newest acquaintance putter around the kitchen, enjoying the scent of fresh bread that permeated the air.

More by habit than the thought that it was necessary, she noted the numerous windows off to her right that appeared to lead out into garden enclosed by a high, stone wall. At the back of the kitchen, near a door that was likely to be a panty, there was another archway, this one smaller and less ornate, and she could make out the end of a staircase. It went both ways, leading to both the basement and to what was probably his living quarters upstairs.

"Gio," Severus said. "What are you doing?"

"Feeding you, of course. You're both quite thin, yes? You need food – good food, not the poison you make."

"I am not a bad cook, Gio," Severus protested with a roll of his eyes. "And we came here for blades, not food."

"You knew when you came you'd be getting both," Giovanni countered. Severus had no answer for that as Giovanni looked at Hollis. "Are you allergic to anything?"

"Nope."

"Anything in particular you dislike?"

She considered it. "Squash. If I never eat another squash in my life, it'd be too soon," she said decisively.

Giovanni crinkled his big nose. "I dislike squash as well," he told her confidingly.

* * *

 

Severus could tell by the way Hollis smiled back that she was completely enamored with Giovanni's large, cheeky, grandfatherly personality. Not that he minded; Gio had been one of the few friends he had that neither side of the war had ever known about. His death had been terrible and unexpected, and Severus was more than thankful to have more time with the man, and if he and Hollis got along, all the better.

The duo chatted easily about different foods and recipes as Gio went about baking his five-cheese ziti that he had made at some point and frozen. In the meantime, Gio served them drinks and a salad with a side of fresh bread.

Every now and then, the chime would sound and Gio would bustle off, but he always came back quickly and picked up exactly where their conversation had left off.

Over the ziti, Gio started in on the questions Severus had known was burning in the man's mind since he first laid eyes on Hollis.

"So," he started off innocently enough, "how did you and Severus meet?" Hollis had just taken a bite and she smiled a little ruefully as she chewed. Gio switched his gaze to Severus. "Well?" he prompted.

Severus considered it and decided that if he could trust anyone with the truth, it'd be Gio. That and he had always been fairly straight with Gio and didn't want to change that. It mean an inordinate amount to him to say that he had only _rarely_ lied to at least one person in his life. "I need you to make an oath that you won't tell, Gio."

Giovanni looked taken aback, a little hurt even. "You know I wouldn't, Severus."

"I know," Severus said. "Just humor me, please?"

Giovanni, dully, did as he was asked and Severus didn't need anymore prompting to spill their strange tale. He left out the prophecy and Hollis' real name, but the general information he gave was otherwise true. He noted that Hollis stopped eating and sort of flinched when he frankly admitted his death.

"And so here we are," Severus finished.

"You have always been one of my more interesting customers, Severus, though you blend better than most," Giovanni told him, then turned his gaze on Hollis, assessing her with newly opened eyes. "And I was right, _bambina_ – you are _quite_ the young lady."

Hollis smiled vaguely. "Thank you, Giovanni."

"Just Gio will do," Giovanni said, though it lacked his usual good humor. "I'll be back," he added suddenly a few moments later. They watched him leave the room and Severus realized that what he had originally thought was Hollis scratching her collar bone was actually her fingering the fine silver chain she wore around her neck. It was not the first time he had seen it, but he had never caught sight of its pendent – and he figured it had to have one because of the way something pulled it down into a 'v'.

Now seemed as good of a time as any to ask, so he did. She pulled it out and laid it in her palm, showing the little black heart encased in silver. "It's pretty," he said.

"I always thought so," she said. She looked like she was thinking about saying something as she tucked it back into place, so he waited, wondering what it was. "I made it a portkey, actually. To your – his? – grave," she finally said softly.

"Oh," he said, a little surprised. "Maybe it's morbid and maudlin of me, but I'd like to see it someday."

"Okay," she said. They were quiet for a little bit, picking at their food – Giovanni was truly a phenomenal cook and the number one reason why Severus wasn't all that impressed with Mrs. Weasley's cooking – and then Hollis said, "What's Gio doing?"

"No idea. He can be a bit eccentric," Severus said amiably.

"I noticed. Very nice, though." He nodded. "So how did you two get to meet each other?"

Severus started to answer, but the kitchen door burst open and Giovanni hurried in, carrying two dark leather roll ups, one slimmer than the other. He set them on the marble countertop, but didn't not remove his hands from them.

"I want your word, each of you, that you will take these without fuss," Giovanni said seriously.

Severus knew immediately that it was something valuable and started to frown. "Gio – "

"No," Giovanni cut in. "Your word."

"Okay," Hollis said, surprising Severus. "You have mine." She looked at Severus and gave him a kind of wide eyed, charming smile that came _this_ close to persuading him to concede without protest, but he knew her and therefore frowned more.

"I'll give you an O for effort," he said flatly.

The expression fell and she smiled faintly in a more normal way. "It was worth a shot. How close was I?"

"Close," he said. "But no."

"Very well," she said. "Can I accept on his behalf?"

"You could," Giovanni said with a little thought. "That should do just fine. But make sure he uses them."

"Elizabeth," Severus said warningly.

"Come on, Severus. Just...trust me on this, okay? I'm sure it'll be worth it and whatever it is, he obviously means well," she said rather firmly, an edge to her tone that was all too familiar. She wasn't just Hollis, then, she was Field Marshal Potter, and she expected him to fall in line.

Severus mulled it over as another part of him wondered how that edge, that authority she was so used to wielding, would play out in the future. She was not the type to abuse it, but it was something she was accustom too and was no longer leery of using, even against him. Which, he could see, could easily start irritating him in the future.

He'd simply have to address it privately, he decided.

"Very well," he said out loud. "I'll agree this _once_."

She gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Severus."

He only nodded and Giovanni slid the leather carrier over to them. The larger one was closer to Hollis and she started to undo the ties on it as Severus opened the smaller one. He unrolled his and found bright, pristine tools perfect for crafting. As Hollis opened hers, he was unsurprised to see high quality black knives that were signature for Giovanni. There were half a dozen small, thin blades of about three inches, and four longer blades of seven inches.

"It's some of my best work," Giovanni told them solemnly.

"Giovanni," Severus said with a sigh. They were beautiful, and any other time, he'd have been more than happy to have them. He preferred high quality in all the things he owned if only because he couldn't afford to have something go wrong at the wrong moment; whatever he had, he had to be able to depend on it – but this...He knew that he couldn't have afforded even two of the small knives, much less all of these, in this time. These were the best of the best.

"You agreed," Giovanni said quickly. "And I know you're a man of your word." Severus gave him a look that told him exactly how he felt about that. Giovanni artfully ignored it and Severus' mouth thinned. "You'll be crafting your own blades, yes?" Severus nodded tersely. "And this was all you were looking for?" Hollis looked at him and he nodded again. "Don't be so angry, Severus," Giovanni implored him, his dark eyes wide. "I think you've more than earned them by your actions in the future, not to mention the troubles you'll be going through _now_. And you want what's best for your lady, do you not?"

"Low blow, Gio, low blow," Severus muttered, the tips of his ears heating as a blush crept up Hollis' neck; she was doing a decent job of not smiling, though she was also clearly pleased, to his eyes, at being called his lady.

_Of course_ he wanted Hollis to have the best knives she could – that's why he had come _here_. He knew Giovanni wouldn't have minded him paying in installments – had, in fact, expected the man to put up a fuss, trying to give him a discount – but getting this kind of work and that many knives for free had not been on the agenda.

Giovanni smiled slightly. "If it works, my young friend," was his reply. And then the conversation was over for him, and he started moving about his kitchen again, packing up various foods. Severus didn't bother even trying to fight that. Giovanni, without fail, always sent him home with some food, even when Severus insisted he was fine. Hollis glanced at him inquiringly and he simply shrugged, so she said nothing about either.

Nothing in Giovanni's kitchen was done quietly in Severus' experience, so the man continued to pepper them with questions, which they mostly answered as Giovanni was adept at not asking the wrong questions. When he was finished packing what seemed like a week's worth of food, he handed them each a basket that he had shrunken the food packages into, and Hollis put the leather carriers in hers as well. She, like himself, shrank the whole thing and stuck it in a pocket, only she left her hands in her pockets.

"There you are," Giovanni said, obviously pleased. The chime went off and he nodded to himself. "Now off you go, you two – you have plenty of work ahead of you. Make sure to eat regularly and do come by more often, Severus, and you as well, Elizabeth, even without Severus, if you'd like," he added as he ushered them through his kitchen door.

"Alright," Hollis said just before going through the door. She pulled her hands out her pockets and hugged a slightly surprised Giovanni. "Thank you so much, Gio. Really," she added. Severus, who was standing a little behind, saw the small brown bag that dropped from her hands when she had them around Giovanni's neck. He watched it carefully as it fell, almost hitting the ground, but staying afloat and going to rest almost hidden on the foot of the staircase that led upstairs. It grew a little, but not enough for him to definitely make it out – all he knew was it was roundish and had a tag attached to it.

However, he knew that whatever it was, Hollis did not want him commenting on it, so he didn't. He let Giovanni hug him and thanked the older wizard as well, though a little petulantly, which only made Gio smile more, and then followed Hollis out the door.

"What was that?" he asked when they were a few shops away.

"A small gift," she said innocently.

* * *

 

Hollis checked her watch as they left Arcanus behind them; it was going on three in the morning.

"It's late," she said after casting another privacy charm around them; one never knew who was lurking in the shadows. "Shall we call it a night and work on these after getting some sleep?"

Severus checked the time on his silver watch and nodded. "Yes. We'll need to be well rested. Will you be going back to the Longbottoms' tonight?"

"Yeah," she said with a slight shrug. "All my stuff is still over there."

He nodded again. "Right. When would you like to move in?"

"I don't know. When is okay with you?"

"We could move you tomorrow, after we've finished for the day," he suggested.

"Sounds good," she said, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly. "When will you be up tomorrow?"

"By ten at the latest. Send me a Patronus whenever you want me to come over," Severus said.

"Will do," she said. The rest of the way to Diagon and out of the Leaky Cauldron was spent in comfortable silence. When they stood outside the old pub, they both lingered for a few moments.

"Well," he said first. "I guess this is goodnight then."

"Yep," she said, trying not to feel down about it. It wasn't like she wasn't used to him only being around for short periods of time and she had known they'd have to say goodnight at some point. She also felt a little awkward. How did one say goodnight to a loved one? A very new loved one, at that.

"I've no idea what I'm doing," she told him with a sheepish smile.

His mouth twitched into a semblance of a smile. "Neither do I."

They shared a quiet laugh and she settled for stepping forward to hug him again. His strong arms wrapped around her in return and, when they pulled away, one hand came up and the calloused thumb lightly caressed her face. It made her feel warm and kind of giddy as she automatically turned into it a little. His face was slightly shadowed from the angle of the moon, but his eyes still glittered as he said lowly, "Goodnight, Hollis."

He bent his head enough to gently brush his lips against hers. She smiled and murmured, "Goodnight, Severus."

His mouth was still close enough that, as she spoke, her lips brushed against his again and it was a few moments before they really and truly left to go to their separate homes.

* * *

 

Later, in the wee hours of the morning, Giovanni closed his store and made his way back to his kitchen. He made a small meal, and ate while thinking of Severus and Elizabeth.

War had obviously taken a toll on the girl. Her eyes were old and her face prematurely lined, but she was quite pretty when she smiled all the same. From what he could tell, she and Severus were compatible and had the advantage of having already known each other for several years in circumstances that could bring out the best and worst in a person.

He was glad she had accepted the knives – he knew Severus' pride wouldn't have let him, no matter how much Gio had pleaded with him. It had actually been almost amusing to watch the young man, who held himself so independent and was so incredibly stubborn, bow to the wishes of his loved one. That, more than anything, told Giovanni just how much he cared for the girl, that he put aside his pride for her. Admittedly, there had been a bit of a bossy edge to her tone, but Severus had mentioned briefly that she had been a Field Marshal and Gio knew well what that was, military things being his forte. Of course Elizabeth was going to be a tad bossy at times, and honesly, had Severus _not_ cared for her, he wouldn't have listened. Which, Gio suspected, Elizabeth knew. She _had_ to know by this point in their relationship.

Giovanni looked at the picture of his deceased wife he had hanging on his fridge; it was a Muggle one, taking during their years in France after escaping from Mussolini's Fascism.

"They're good kids, Ilaria," he told her as he set his dishes in the sink. "They'll go far – have already come so far."

As he expected, it didn't respond and he hummed an old tune to himself as he waved his wand, setting the dishes to washing and drying themselves, then started to turn in for the day. He came up short, though, when he spotted the little brown bag sitting on the fourth step of his staircase, a little tag tied to it with twine.

"What's this?" he murmured to himself, stooping to pick it up. He heard the clank of coins, but looked at the note first. In small, flowing font, it read -

_I'm usually a witch of my word, but I'm also a good deal like Severus, and I can't take your beautiful gifts freely. It's too much. Please, for my sake and Severus', accept what I can give you in return. It isn't nearly as much as what your knives are worth, but it is all I can offer. - E.G._

He sighed as he opened the bag. He most likely should've seen this coming. She had folded too easily, and Severus was unlikely to be with someone who'd take things like his wares for nothing, not when it bothered him so much. He wasn't sure when she had planted the galleons and Muggle notes, but that wasn't surprising either. Elizabeth had to have been crafty to make it as far as she did in their awful war.


	13. Knives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long to post! RL life hit me like a ton of bricks, but I'm almost through my currest ish, so I thought I'd celebrate by posting a chapter. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also, I'm fairly sure that I'm botching the creation of knives, but I vaguely remember Google-ing this ages ago when I first wrote this chapter and it's very vaguely accurate. Maybe. Idk. Just go with it. 'Cause Magic.

* * *

Hollis woke up with a thin sheen of sweat all over, but without screaming. The screams had stopped long ago, even if the dreams still horrified her as much as ever while sleeping. She let out a long, slow breath and then slipped from the bed. As she went through a light routine of stretches and exercises, she thought about how to go about getting a proper place to _really_ work out in. She knew the Aurors had a pretty good one, but would they let her use it? It seemed doubtful, but maybe – if she asked very nicely – between James, Sirius, Frank, Moody, and Dumbledore, they could pull some strings. It was a less…pleasing option, considering she’d be going to _Moody_ and _Dumbledore_ and other people in general for help, and she had a healthy distaste for that, but if needs must and all.

Of course she could magic some of the things she wanted into existence, but it wasn't the same, really.

She changed into a pair of sweats, tugged a hoodie over her tank top, and slipped on her running shoes. Minny didn't try and stop her this morning, and she enjoyed the brisk, winter air. As she ran the same trail she had taken yesterday, she looked hard at her natural surroundings, checking to see if there was anything she could use for exercise – natural hurdles, trees with limbs thin enough and strong enough to use for pull-ups, and that kind of thing. She didn't hold out much hope, and therefore wasn't disappointed to see that wasn't anything of value.

The land was beautiful, though, so at the very least she had something nice to look at while running.

As she neared the front of the manor, her breath coming out in foggy puffs, she amusedly thought of the Whomping Willow and tried to picture herself dodging and jumping the limbs swung at her. It would actually suit her purposes, but she doubted Dumbledore would let her use it. It would encourage the students to try it, and one of them would undoubtedly lose an eye, break a limb, sprain something, or worse.

"Do you run every morning?" Frank startled her by asking when she walked in. Her head snapped up to see him standing at the top of the right staircase, wearing his Auror robes and holding a mug of something that was likely coffee.

"Yes," she said.

"How far?" he asked, starting to come down.

"I don't know exactly. At least a few kilometers."

Minny popped to her side and held a glass of water and a banana. "So Miss Grey isn't getting cramps," she said wisely.

Hollis smiled a little and accepted both. "Thanks, Minny."

Minny curtsied and popped away. Hollis sipped some of the water while walking towards the stairs on the left, just as Frank hit the bottom step on the right.

"Feel free to join us for breakfast," Frank called after her.

"Alright," she called back, the paused. "Hey, Frank?" she asked, looking back down. He looked at her. "Is there a potions lab here that Severus and I can borrow at some point today?"

Frank looked a little bemused. "Yeah. Minny can show it to you whenever you have need of it."

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem."

* * *

"Alright," Hollis asked. "How do you do this?"

They were set up in the well-lit potions lab, and on one long lab table the two leather carriers were unrolled, though nothing had been removed from them yet. On the table running parallel, there was a cauldron bubbling away on one end, and on the other sat Severus' black, hand tooled leather box. It was two feet long and one foot high and she had no idea what was in it but figured it had to be useful if _Severus_ was lugging it around. Sitting next to it was a thick book that was clearly ancient. It was tattered and frayed, but in surprisingly good condition for its age - to her eyes, it seemed even older than the Gutenberg bible, but she didn’t actually know much about dating books, so she couldn’t say for sure.

"It's pretty basic, though it can be draining if you do it too fast," Severus started explaining. He was standing in between the two tables with her. He plucked up a black knife that seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it the way most knives did. "These knives aren't heat treated yet, so they're still soft enough to engrave and carve. They're left like that so that people like us can customize them." He pointed at the base, about half an inch above the unadorned black hilt. "Here," he said, "is the prime spot to carve your rune, though if you have more than one, you can lay them out in a more spacious manner and the size of each rune can vary, depending upon their importance to you. I can help with that when you've decided on your rune or runes. You can use any rune you want, but the more aptly it applies to you, the stronger the magic of your blade will be, the more it can bend to your will – which is what sets it apart from the everyday knife."

Hollis' mind immediately flashed back to the rune on Giovanni's door, the _bezroh_. That, she was sure, would invariably end up on one or more of her blades.

Severus continued on, "Depending on which culture your rune or runes will come from, there are some things to do while carving. Mostly, it involves singing or story telling as that was the way things were passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years, and thus meant a great deal to the individual cultures; there's power in it. Whatever you chose to do, though, it has to demonstrate that rune, that aspect of yourself, and, as before, the more apt it is, the stronger it is. It also helps to be a good singer or story-teller, though not so much as to make a huge difference. Once that is complete, you coat the insides of the rune very carefully with your blood, use a spell and some form of metal – usually silver or gold – to seal it in, and then put the blades hilt up in that potion there, which will have thickened into a moldable wax like substance by the time we reach that point. It's specially made, of course, and is intended to finish hardening and tempering the blades to the correct degree, as well as coating it so that it can't be scratched and the runes ruined. It's the closest our kind has gotten to Goblin metalwork."

"What if I mess up?"

"You won't," he said, crossing his arms and leaning one hip against the table to their left, the one with the knives and tools. "Ideally, we'll get at least one of these done today, but we might not. You don't just go about this without preparation. You have to pick your runes, your placement, whether you want gold or silver, and then you'll be practicing drawing and carving the runes while utilizing whatever method is best for strengthening your work. That way you can be sure you won't mess up on the real deal because if you do mess up, there is no fixing it."

"Oh," Hollis said, suddenly understanding the enormity of the task before them.

"Mmhmm," he said, apparently understanding that. "Ready to get started?"

"Might as well," she said.

"Conjure a stool over here then," Severus said, pushing away from the table and slipping past her. With a wave of his ebony wand, he conjured up a plain wooden stool and sat next to his box, delicately lifting the old tome and setting it before himself. Hollis moved right next to him, conjuring up a stool, and sitting while watching him gently open the book.

It was every bit as old as she thought – older, even. The pages were delicate vellum and handwritten and illustrated. It reminded her a great deal of the famed Book of Kells, and she could make out a few Latin words, but, mostly, the script was unfamiliar and difficult to read.

"Wow," she said, wanting to touch it but somewhat afraid too. "Where did you get this? What is it? Can you read it?"

"It was passed down through the Prince line. We've always been a Rune-oriented family, and this is a – no, it's  _the_ collection of all the ancient runes in the world. Incredibly valuable and a complete secret, so mind you don't go off telling the Dark Lord," Severus said idly. Hollis snorted. "As I am the last of the Princes, it came to me," he said.

"So you _can_ read this?"

"Yes," he said.

He then started explaining all about rune placement. She already knew a good deal about it from Hermione and her own personal studies, but Severus' approach to it was different, more instinctive, and it appealed to her. What Hermione had learned and passed onto her at Hogwarts was more...cookie-cutter and mathematically inclined, being somewhat mixed with Arithmacy. It was made for beginners to understand, a way of teaching them some basics that they could remember and implement later without blowing themselves up. Severus' way was fluid and varied depending on a person, their history, and magical power. It was more complex and dangerous, but more accurate and powerful if you did it correctly.

After that, he went through the book, explaining all the cultures and the benefits of using each, and how each constructed their runes. She listened intently, and he finished with, "Of course, the best suited for you and I would be the Celtic ones, as there is something to be said for blood heritage and we can both trace our lines back to the days before Rome got a foot-hold in Britain." She nodded; that was one of the things she already knew. "Do you know what runes you want to use yet?"

"There are a few that would do, but the most apt one I can think of is the _bezroh_ ," she said, explaining, “I saw it on Gio’s door last night and remembered how fitting it really was.”

He nodded. "I thought that would be the most likely. Do you want just that one on your first knife?"

She considered it for a long moment, then started to nod slowly. "Yeah."

"Alright," he said, turning to the rune in question. The left page was dedicated wholly to depictions of the rune, and slight variances that could be made. He stood and opened his black leather box. "On a large blade or small one?"

"Small. I'd feel less guilty if I messed up a small one," she decided.

He gave a single nod and pulled out a wooden replica of one of the smaller knives. He handed it to her, along with, surprisingly, a pencil.

"Always outline before carving," he said. "And I know that the texture of wood and the texture of those knives are different, but I charmed them this morning to feel the same, so it will be like you're practicing on a real knife."

She nodded her understanding. "Does this mean I can start?"

"Yes," he said.

"Do I have to practice my singing or whatever now, or does that come when I'm actually carving, not just outlining? And what if my story or song finishes before I finish carving?"

"You don't have too while you're outlining, though you can for a slight, extra edge," he said. "It makes almost no difference really. And if you do run out, repeat it or pick something else. Try not to take very long picking, though, or pause briefly in your work until you have made a decision. It's best to do it all in one go."

"Oh," she said. Hollis put down the pencil and wooden knife and propped one elbow on the table, leaning on that hand, and thought. Story telling or singing? "What's better – singing or story telling?"

"Varies from person to people. Some people express themselves better in one form or the other, and some do well with both. A select few aren't good with either and have to have another create their knives, which will work and will be nearly as powerful, but then the blade is more suitable for two people instead of one."

"Which do you think I'd be better at?"

"I'm not sure," Severus said after a few moments of thought. "I don't think I've ever heard you sing before. Try it both ways and figure out which is easier for you to keep up while carving."

"Alright," she said, then started thinking about what songs fit what she was trying to convey. She was sure there was one, but music hadn't been easy to get to in the Dursley household, and all she knew about Wizarding music was Celestina Warbeck, the Weird Sisters, and a scant few songs that had been sung at funerals. "I don't think singing is going to cut it. I don't actually know that many songs," she informed Severus, frowning a little. She hadn't even realized that until now. "Story telling will have to do."

He only nodded, having gone around the edge of the table to check on the potion, which didn't sound like it was bubbling like mad anymore.

"Does it have to be a _story_ -story? Like, the Tale of the Three Brothers, or is more like a reflection, telling about a memory and things you learned and that kind of thing?" she asked.

He carefully considered it while slowly stirring the potion. "To my knowledge, it can be told anyway you want it. So long as it’s true for you, as long as you mean it and coat your words with magic, letting it seep into the rune, then it will turn out fine."

Hollis turned that over in her mind, musing out loud, "So it's a bit like a vow. You have to mean it and you can't lie, but the words matter less than the meaning behind it."

"More or less," he said. "You don't have to use your magic on your practice carving, by the way. It'd just be a waste."

Hollis went through the various memories she had to find the one that, to her, most showed what _bezroh_ meant, that fierce and violent protection of loved ones. She had hundreds of memories of trying to protect the people she cared about, some of them successful, some of them dismal failures that left her reeling. But which showed that best?

Putting her pencil the wood and carefully looking at the pictures of the _bezroh_ , she started speaking quietly to herself, feeling a little self-conscious but pushing it to the side and focusing solely on getting the outline just right.

She paused when she finished outlining, comparing it to the rune in the book. "Is this good?" she asked Severus, twisting it to show him. He peered closely at it, then nodded, going to one of the leather cases and picking up a thin, narrow tool, and walking back down the center isle towards her. It had a pencil like body of metal, and the tip was thin, like a needle, but bent forty-five degrees, and the point was shaped a little like a chisel.

It didn't take a genius to see how it worked.

"This," Severus said, "is what you'll be using to carve out the shape of your rune. Just the edges, though. The rest will be carved out with a thicker tool, as using this fine of a point would take unnecessary amounts of time."

She nodded, accepting the tool offered, and setting to work, remembering to continue her story after a few moments.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed this way; Severus helping her take it step by step, demonstrating on his own wooden knife if she needed clarification, and then having her redo it on the flip side of her practice blade with less help from him. They stopped for lunch after the second time, choosing to eat some of the food Giovanni sent home with Hollis, and picking up again when they finished. Hollis used a practice knife two more times, and each time it came out more refined, the movements no longer as awkward or slow. Her chosen monologue also improved, the words coming easier, the phrases perfecting themselves, and the whole thing picking up its own cadence that matched her movements and stages of the carving.

In between, when she was taking a break to rest her hand, Severus deemed her capable of going without his help, and decided to start on his first knife. Giovanni had gifted them with two sets of tools, so he gathered the second lot to himself, as well as a pencil, and then picked up a small knife. Without any ado, he started singing very quietly in Gaelic.

She stared at his back in astonished wonder. She had no idea that he could sing, much less so well. He had never seemed the type, and yet his voice was low and soft, and the rich, resonant magic in it made the hair on her arms and the back of her neck prickle.

Hollis didn't understand the words, but, while the words and slow tempo made it seem sad, there was an undercurrent of steel, as though whatever he was singing about wouldn't be broken by whatever was making it sad. As far as she could tell, it was a song of struggle, of pushing to the last and conquering in the end. It sounded just like Severus, and he sang it so easily, so unselfconsciously, that she had to wonder at how many times he had used it before. The song ended on a lighter note as Severus reached for the thicker carver.

"You're a wonderful singer," she took the opportunity to inform him. He half-smiled and started the song all over again.

Hollis, not quite as enraptured as she had been previously now that she heard the song in its entirety, turned back to her work, practicing for the fourth time on a wooden knife. She made sure to put up a charm that would keep her story from interrupting Severus' work before she started, and then started retelling her story to the knife.

She was startled by a knock on the door about half way through her carving, and glanced at Severus. He looked up for a moment, but neither his mouth nor his hand stopped moving. Taking the cue, Hollis stood, setting her stuff aside, and went to open the door, casting the _Tempus_ charm as she went. It was just before five, about forty-five minutes after Alice said Lily would be coming for tea. Alice had also invited Hollis, and Hollis presumed that they had both come to see what she was up too.

She was therefore unsurprised to open the door and find that she was right; it was Lily and Alice.

"Hullo," Alice said with an easy smile. "We just came to see if you two were still toiling away."

"Severus is," Hollis answered, stepping out into the hall and shutting the door behind her so they wouldn't disturb the wizard. She leaned back against it. "I'm still practicing so I don't actually screw up on the blade itself." Alice blinked, bemused, and Lily looked at her friend for clarification. Hollis realized she hadn't explained _why_ she needed the lab to either Frank or Alice. It also occurred to her that they hadn’t _asked_ , they had just trusted her not to be doing anything malicious. She couldn't decide if she found that incredibly ignorant and naive, or vaguely sweet and warming. She'd decide later. "We're crafting our own knives."

"Crafting?" Lily asked cluelessly while Alice raised her eyebrows in surprise.

It was odd to be looking at the willowy red head. _This_ , this right here, was her _mother_. The woman who gave _birth_ to her. Who had loved her so much that her sacrifice still ran in Hollis' veins. And Hollis didn't know her at all. She knew more about _Voldemort's_ mother than she did her own. It was a conflicting thing, and one she didn't like dwelling on but couldn't be ignored. Not when Lily Potter was standing right there, looking at her in that odd way from yesterday even while trying to hold a regular conversation with her.

"That's when you take an untempered blade and put your own runes on them," Hollis explained for Lily's sake, not missing a beat despite her inward turmoil. "It's time consuming and takes a lot of concentration, but it's worth it. Makes the blade infinitely more valuable to the owner."

"Are you sure it's safe for you and Severus to be doing? If you do something wrong..." Alice said worriedly.

Hollis smiled a little. "I'm sure. Severus knows what he's doing – he's already most of the way through his first one – and I'm getting a feel for it on a practice blade."

"What culture are you doing?" Alice asked, looking only marginally satisfied by her answer. "Celtic?" Hollis nodded. "What method? Singing or story telling?"

"Have you ever crafted a knife, Alice?" Hollis asked curiously. "And I'm story telling. Don't actually know that many songs."

"No, but my father was fascinated by the art," Alice said with a slight grin.

"Who's your father?"

"Alexander Lovette. He passed away when I was fifteen." Alice sighed.

"I'm sorry," Hollis said automatically.

Alice shrugged a little. "I'm more used to it than I was. That was the time I thought about getting the tattoo, like a memorial, you know?"

Hollis fully understood that. "That's why I got the shield knot," she said, one hand going back to brush over the tattoo, even though her fingertips weren't actually able to feel it. "For my best friend after she passed. She always liked Celtic things and wore a necklace with a shield charm hanging from it."

"Was it your first tattoo?"

"No. My first tattoo was the first five dates on my right wrist." She turned her arm over, showing the list. She was wearing a soft, dark red v-neck and long sleeves, but she had rolled the sleeves back to carve unhindered. Hollis turned her arm back over before they could fully read the list, and noted that Lily's eyes had widen at the sight of it.

"Are those all dates of when you lost someone?" Lily asked quietly. Hollis wished she was better at Legilimency – she wanted to know what Lily was thinking, what she felt, and how she saw Hollis now that she knew who she was. She wanted to keep her distance from James and Lily, for now at least, but she was also an intensely curious person, and the two people she had always wanted to know better were alive again and within arm’s reach.

Only, Hollis couldn't quite bring herself to bridge the gap.

It was like what she warned the Order yesterday – once you knew something, you couldn't _un_ know it. And if she tried, she'd get to know James and Lily well, she'd know what exactly she had lost that Halloween night, and she'd have to live with that. It would be like losing them all over again, only worse because _she'd know._

Knowledge, she had once heard someone say, was a terrible burden. It might help you, but it could also destroy you.

"Yeah, though some represent more than one person," Hollis answered Lily's question easily.

There was a moment of silence between the three of them, and then Alice spoke up, "So what kind of blades do you have?"

"Untempered obsidian ones," Hollis said. "Four large ones, and six smaller ones."

"Obsidian? Giovanni's?"

"You know about Giovanni?"

"Dad was an enthusiast, remember?"

"Oh, right. Yeah, they're all Giovanni's."

"How on earth did you manage to afford _ten?_ Surely, you didn't have that much."

Hollis shrugged. "No, but we worked it out between us." She didn't know whether or not Severus would mind them knowing about his friendship with the old Italian wizard, but it was better to err on the side of caution.

"How much do you still owe him?"

"Nothing I can't handle on my own," Hollis said.

Alice eyed her a little doubtfully. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Is this one of those plausible deniability things?"

Hollis let the corners of her mouth tip upwards. "Not quite. He knows that I plan on killing Voldemort and that I intend to pay him from the bounty I'll receive," she lied easily. It was somewhat true – there _was_ a bounty on his head – but she doubted that Giovanni would accept any more from her than she already given him. Not to mention, she had no intention whatsoever in claiming that she had killed Voldemort again if she could help it. 

"Oh," Alice said, seeming surprised. "I never even thought about what you're going to do after the war."

"Well, you have only known me for about forty-eight hours," Hollis pointed out fairly. "It's not much time to think of those things, is it?"

"No," she agreed.

"So what _do_ you plan on doing afterwards?" Lily queried.

"I don't know actually," Hollis said honestly. "Probably nothing for a little while." She felt like she had been going and going without a break since she was a kid. Oh, there were light moments, particularly with Ron and Hermione, but there was always something going on in the background even still. And then at the Dursleys, it was a constant fight just to live without getting hit or thrown in her cupboard or locked in Dudley's second bedroom (she had never thought of it as hers). She was always walking on eggshells with them.

And Hollis was tired of it. She felt worn and stretched too thin, and the prospect of doing nothing, of having nothing more pressing to do than to eat, sleep, and breath was a dreamy one, one she _ached_ for. She'd get bored and edgy eventually – she doubted she could flip a switch between a life of war and a life of leisure so easily – but she would definitely savor the time in between.

"What did you want to do before the – the second war?"

"I wanted to be an Auror," Hollis said neutrally. "But I don't think that's a good idea anymore. I don't have the patience to deal with useless regulations and stuffy bureaucrats who think they can do my job better than I could."

"They can be annoying," Alice agreed with a slight smile. "But I'm sure they'd give you some leeway, particularly after you defeat Voldemort, and I'm sure you'd be good at it."

"That's the other half of why I don't want to be an Auror anymore. I don't want leeway, I don't want to be famous, and I don't think I want to fight anymore after this," Hollis said, shaking her head a little ruefully.

"That makes sense," Lily said, both of them looking at Hollis seriously. "I can only imagine how tired of it you must be by now."

Hollis made a noncommittal gesture and her eyes flew wide open as the door she was leaning against opened quickly and abruptly, and she started to stumble back.

Fortunately, Severus caught and steadied her deftly. She looked up at him, noting the downward tilt of his mouth and the tenseness of his body.

"I'm being summoned."


	14. Make Ready The Dogs of War Pt. 1

Which was, admittedly, not good, but Hollis didn't think it'd cause that kind of frown.

"And?" she prompted.

"It wasn't in the original timeline. I shouldn't have been summoned for another week. Things are already changing and I can't think of anything we've done to warrant it," he said, wholly ignoring Alice and Lily. "Elizabeth," he continued, the familiar lines on his face that meant he was inwardly concerned deepening; it wasn't something Alice and Lily would recognize for what it was, but she did and it made an all too familiar worry and panic start to claw at her stomach and heart. She rather thought it was a miracle she hadn't developed ulcers yet. "What if we're not the only ones who came back? Not the only ones with memories of the future?"

Alice and Lily sucked in a sharp breath at the very idea and she automatically started regulating her breathing, refusing to show a single of sign of this being bad news to her. They didn't know that Severus was concerned, and she most certainly wasn't going to enlighten them to the fact that she was as well. It was the same tactics she used with her men – let them believe she was in control and they would have fewer doubts, they'd fight with a stronger will because they wouldn't think they had already lost.

"If he has his memories, he's going to hit hard and he is going to hit fast. As far as he knows, you are not a traitor. In fact, his memories will tell him you were his most valuable Death Eater, even over Bellatrix. And Hollis Potter is not yet grown enough to be a threat," she said mildly. "He will be confident and you know what they say about pride. If – and that is a large _if_ – he has his memories, we bring this to a head. He won't expect it and that'll give us an edge."

He nodded, his face taking on a less concerned and more thoughtful air as he rummaged through his pockets. He came up with two Knuts and tapped them with his black wand, then handed her one. "D.A.," he said by way of explanation. Hollis nodded her understanding and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Polyjuice potion in the box if he attacks and you want it," he said. She nodded again. The very first place Voldemort would target would be the Potters if he had his memories, and while Severus would warn her as early as he could, it was possible he'd never get a warning off.

Severus didn't hesitate to turn and start walking away, his strides long and quick, and Hollis fell into step with him, used to having to keep up with men with longer strides and faster paces than her own. Lily and Alice followed along behind.

Hollis mentally reviewed all the things she could do to help further secure the Potter household and whose help she'd need as they went. She could do a fair bit on her own, but she did not want Lily and James on the property, though she suspected that they wouldn't take that very well, especially considering that she needed to have little Hollis there. The whole reason Voldemort would attack would be because of his desire to kill little Hollis before she grew up into a threat.

And Voldemort would not make the mistake of giving Lily a chance to step aside again.

They reached the doors and Severus and Hollis continued outside, heading for the edge of the wards while Alice kept Lily indoors. The more she learned about Neville’s mum, the more she liked her.

When they reached it, Severus didn't hesitate to kiss her goodbye. "I'm never leaving without doing so again," he informed her when he pulled away, leaving Hollis a mass of slightly melted goo.

"That's okay with me," she said with a smile. "Just make sure to come _back_."

He smiled a full smile, and Hollis' heart skipped into double time. "I'll do that," he said, and with a twist and a crack, he was gone.

And, just as quickly, the gooey feeling was gone even though she could still taste him on her lips. She had work to do.

She sprinted back to the front door, it was bloody freezing and she didn’t have a coat on, and looked at Lily. "Is James working today?"

The red headed witch had been watching her with wide eyes, a strange emotion in them, but now she blinked and checked her watch. "He'll be getting off in twenty or so minutes," she said.

"Go home, wait for him. Do not leave. I'll be along shortly," Hollis said, then swept past her. "Alice, I'm going to need your help."

"Wait!" Lily said. "What's going on?"

Hollis turned and looked at her evenly. "If Voldemort has his memories, the first thing he is going to do is ensure that your daughter can't grow up into me. Go home. Wait for James. Explain what's going on and don't let him tell anyone, not even Remus, Sirius, or Dumbledore. And don't leave. Don't change anything about the house, except to draw the curtains on all the windows. Leave the lights off in any rooms that you are not in." Lily looked pale and dazed and Hollis inwardly sighed. Outwardly, she sharpened her expression and moved in close to Lily. They were the exact same height, she noticed absently. " _Lily_ ," she snapped coldly.

Lily seemed taken aback, but actually focused on her, which was the whole point.

"Don't you wash out on me now, Potter," Hollis commanded. "What are you going to do when you get home?"

Lily fumbled for a moment, then gathered herself. "Wait for James. Keep lights off in any room I'm not using. Pull the curtains closed. I'm not supposed to leave and I'm not supposed to let James tell anyone."

"Exactly. Now get out of here," Hollis said, her voice brooking no argument. Lily automatically turned and hurried away.

"Did you treat your men that way?" Alice asked when she was gone. There was no judgment in her tone, just curiosity.

"Only if they needed it," Hollis said, turning away and hurrying back to the potions lab. Alice followed her without needing to be asked again, and Hollis waved her wand, cleaning up their mess and neatly repacking it all except for Severus' half-finished knife. She left that laying where he had laid it, and noticed that he had already taken care of the potion. With an inward smile – Severus and his potions – she left the book where it laid as well, only pausing to close it, and then opened Severus' black box.

Underneath the removable top layer, which held the wooden knives she had been practicing on, there was a lower, more secured layer that was packed full of vials and she quickly sorted through them. Just about all of them could be useful, so she decided to shrink the box and take it with her, leaving the top sitting next to the book of runes.

While she was doing so, she said to Alice. "Does Frank get off at the same time as James?"

"Yes."

Hollis nodded to herself. "Alright. When he arrives, inform him of the situation. Get a hold of the same group from yesterday. I want them all on standby here, if at all possible. If not, as many as you can would be great. Lily and James will be coming through, as well. Most likely,” she amended after a moment.

"What's your plan, exactly?"

"Voldemort is going to be looking for the Potters – and he's going to find them," Hollis said, putting the shrunken box into her pocket, and leaving the room. She jogged up to her room. "But I'm going to Polyjuice as Lily and, if Severus is unable to get there, I'm going to have Amyntas Willem Polyjuice as James. Besides Dumbledore and Moody, he's the best situated to hold off the upper echelons of Death Eaters, and I trust him to kill where Dumbledore wouldn't, and to keep his act up where Moody would start firing off spells. Mostly trust him, anyway."

"Why aren't we going to, like, ward the house or something?"

"Because I _want_ him to get in. If he has his memories, it's best to force the showdown before he can dig in or change things too much," Hollis said, sorting through her clothing and pulling out her dragon hide coat and pants, as well as a new pair of tights.

Without much mind to the fact that Alice was there, she shimmed out of her jeans, tugging on the tights, then the leather pants. The red shirt she left on and pulled her dragon hide coat on over it, but didn't button it up. She put the box in the right pocket at her hip, doubled checked that her invisibility cloak was where it was supposed to be, her wand was in place, and then moved the charmed Knut Severus had given her to the pocket above her heart. She sat on the edge of her bed and tugged on her boots.

Lastly, she tugged her loose hair into a tight ponytail, noticing that Alice had turned while she was changing, and hadn't said a word.

"It's best that you get Frank's mother over here to watch Neville if you plan on going tonight," Hollis told her, directing them back out of the room at a quick pace.

"Why wouldn't I?" Alice asked.

Hollis paused, half way down the hall, and looked at her. "Because you have Neville," she said, not sure why that needed to be explained. Alice didn't respond, and Hollis didn't push the issue, continuing on. When she was down the stairs, she kept going straight, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Alice asked.

"To get Amyntas Willem," Hollis called over her shoulder. "I'll also be alerting Dumbledore. He may or may not be heading this way." She paused and looked at Alice again. "I'm sorry; I've not consulted you at all on using your house as a makeshift headquarters."

Alice smiled. "I'm fine with it, and if I wasn’t, I would’ve said so. I’m not a Gryffindor for nothing."

"Thank you, Alice, for everything," Hollis said sincerely.

"You're welcome. Now, go on." She even made a little shooing gesture.

Hollis flashed her a quick smile and sprinted for the door. She hit the ward line and, with barely a pause, twisted and Apparated to a back alley of Hogsmead. Judicious use of charms and her invisibility cloak got her through Honeydukes and into the secret passage way easily. Once securely in the tunnel, she took off the cloak and ran. Along the way, she decided she _really_ hoped that she was making a fuss over nothing but also knew not to bet on it. Luck just didn’t go that way for her, never had, and she didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of this possibility before. When she neared the exit behind the one-eyed witch, she slowed down, pulling her cloak on again. Before opening the exit, she cast a _Homenum Revelio_ charm, making sure that there were no students around. Stealthily, she made her way through the school, heading for the Headmaster's office first. It was closer and he could probably get a hold of Willem faster than she could.

It was after school hours and before dinner, so there were plenty of students milling around, and she had no desire to explain her presence to any of them – or any of the teachers that might spot her that _weren’t_ a part of the Order. As Hollis was forced to stop completely sometimes, tucked behind a suit of armor or in an alcove, she felt exasperation building. She used as many shortcuts and hidden passages as possible, and was a little disturbed to run across a few couples in various states of dress – or undress, rather.

Merlin, had she and her friends ever been like that?

On the sixth floor, she hit gold, coming out of a hidden passage almost directly in front of Willem, who was speaking quietly with the Prewett twins. She couldn't make out their conversation and knew there was a charm at place, but she didn't bother to try subverting it.

Instead, she walked up to them, pulling off her cloak, which caught one of the Prewett twins attention as they were facing her direction while Willem had his back to her.

His blue eyes widen and his mouth dropped open in shock. He jabbed his twin and pointed at her. An identical expression of shock appeared on his twin's face as Willem turned, looking confused. The Defense professor's shock only lasted a second before he locked it away, waving his wand to cancel whatever charm they had up.

"Marshal," he said. "How did you get into the school? Does Dumbledore know you're here?"

Hollis opened her mouth to speak when she felt the coin grow heavier and hotter. She tugged it out, quickly reading the message that was spelled out on the edge where the numbers should be.

Her stomach dropped – Voldemort definitely had his memories back – and she grimly put away the coin.

With a quick wave of her wand, she ensured that they were the only people in the hall, and then cast a privacy charm anyway. "He doesn’t – yet. Willem, I need you to come with me. Prewetts, I need you to find Dumbledore as fast as you can. Tell him that Voldemort has his memories back – " Horror came across their faces, but she didn't give them a chance to speak. " – and that I want him and the best of the best of the Order at the Longbottoms' place as soon as possible. Can you do that?"

"Of course," they said, reminding her sharply of the Weasley twins.

"Then go – and thanks," she said. They turned and hurried towards the staircase that would lead them up to the next floor, where Dumbledore's office was protected by the gargoyle. She looked at Willem, who had suppressed his horror and looked grave. "Where's your office?"

"Two floors down," he said.

"Has a floo?"

"Yes."

"Lead the way," she said.

It took a short four minutes to get there and then Hollis was tossing floo powder into his grate, calling out the floo address for the Potters. She stepped into the green flames and whirled away, stepping out to see Lily pacing.

"He's late," she told Hollis, who only nodded, moving aside as the floo flared again and Willem stepped out. Lily stopped in her pacing to stare at him. "What's he doing here?"

"I'm rather wondering that myself," Willem said. "I thought we were going to Longbottoms?"

"Voldemort definitely has his memories, Lily," Hollis told her. She blanched. "My plan is to take your place while Willem, if Severus remains unavailable, will take James'. You and James will be, as they say, waiting in the wings at the Longbottoms' – "

She was cut off by the front door opening. James walked in, then paused, looking confused.

"What's going on?" he asked cautiously.

"Take a seat, please. I don't have a lot of time," Hollis said, which was possibly a lie. If she had more than a few hours, that would be enough, but right now, she'd treat it as though they'd be attacked at any second.

James walked over, concerned, and sat, taking Lily's hand when she sat next to him.

"Voldemort has received his memories like Severus," she said without preamble. "What this means is that he's likely to attack here first and soon. Since I want to confront him as soon as possible, we're going to allow it – "

" _What?_ " James half-shouted.

"We're going to allow it. I want to take him out as soon as I can," Hollis said calmly. "You and Lily won't be here. I will be polyjuicing as Lily, and, if Willem is willing, he will be polyjuicing into you. I want you two to be at the Longbottoms with the rest of the Order, just in case we need back up."

"And Hollis?" James asked slowly. "What about her? He'd be coming specifically for her, wouldn't he?"

Hollis nodded. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Upstairs, sleeping," Lily answered.

"Oh. Well, I'm going to need her here."

It went about as well as she expected.

James exploded out of his seat. "No!"

"James – "

" – no way in _hell_ am I letting her stay here while a _Dark Lord_ attacks – "

" _James!_ " she thundered. "Listen to me!" He quieted, but still looked mutinous. Lily didn't look any better and her face was starting to flush red. "She's not going to be in any harm. Voldemort can't get pass my blood wards, especially not in this body – "

"What?" Willem said. "That doesn't make sense."

"Doesn't have too right now," Hollis said, waving him off. "The point is, he can't hurt her."

"If she's here, I am too," James said stubbornly.

"No," Hollis said immediately. "I need Willem or Severus here in your place. They're better duelers."

"This is my house and my family – "

"Doesn't matter," Hollis cut in, her face perfectly serious. "I will stun you if I have too."

"You can't do that!"

"Do you want to test that?" she asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"I'm your _father!_ "

Hollis froze for a moment, outwardly keeping a smooth face. Then, she said quietly, "Willem, can you start setting up alerts around the property line? Not wards, just alerts." He nodded and quickly left the room, making barely a sound. James looked a little less sure, but didn't retract his statement, so Hollis continued on once the door clicked shut. " _This_ is why I didn't want you to know my real name. My father died almost twenty-one years ago – time travel is never going to change that. You're not him, James, and you'll never be him, just as I will never be your daughter."

She looked at him steadily the whole while and inwardly flinched when he did. It was a brutal way to put it, but it had to be said. James was biologically her father, but she had grown up with the mindset of her parents being dead and James and Lily couldn't change that. They couldn't suddenly become the parents she lost and she didn't want or need them too.

"That being said," she added on once she was fairly sure her words had sunk in – to both of them, not just James, "I'm not saying I don't want anything to do with you two. I agreed yesterday to be family. Just...not that kind of family."

James nodded slowly. "Alright...sorry."

She shrugged. "It's fine," she said, smiling a bit to lighten the mood. "However, I'm still perfectly serious about stunning you. I need this to go off perfectly, and while you're good, they're better. Especially if it's Severus – we're familiar with each other and can work together with ease, and we need every advantage we can get."

"Actually, can I ask a quick question?" James said, brightening a little. Cautiously, she nodded. "What _do_ you see in him? How did you two end up together?"

Hollis actually laughed softly, and James smiled at her.

"I used to hate him – intensely," she admitted, thinking she might as well tell him. His curiosity would be satisfied, which would hopefully give him some good will towards accepting her plan without further fuss. "When we first met, I was eleven and all I did was remind him of you, so of course he hated me, and I picked up on that. I didn't know the enmity you two had, so I just thought he was an unfair git. But some things happened, and we had to put our animosity on the back burner so we could work together to defeat Voldemort, and, as the war got worse, the less we hated each other. The less we hated each other, the more I realized that he's actually astonishingly intelligent. And a fantastic dueler. And a bunch of other things I'm sure you don't want to hear about." James crinkled his nose and shook his head; she smiled a bit. "On his part, I've no idea what made him interested in me. And we only got together yesterday because neither of us owned up about liking the other before that last battle. I was a coward and couldn't see him returning my affections, and on his part, it was that if his death became necessary, he didn't want either of us encumbered by personal feelings."

"Oh," James said thoughtfully.

"So will you _please_ submit to this plan without a fight?" Hollis asked, bringing them back to the point. "Both of you?"

"Can you swear on your magic that Hollis will be safe?" Lily asked.

Hollis shook her head. "It's too vague. And I don't intend for her to stay here after Voldemort invades. Once I have his attention, I'm going to ensure there is a house-elf around to pop her to the Longbottoms, where you two will be waiting."

"Wouldn't he put up anit-Apparation charms to keep us from leaving?"

"Yes, but a house-elf can get around things like that if their masters order them too," Hollis said. “Vastly underestimated creatures, house-elves.”

Lily and James traded one of those long looks that spoke volumes and Hollis abruptly realized she did that with Severus, and she inwardly smiled. She had that someone to do it with now, and because of his adroitness with the mental arts, they could say even more than normal couples.

"What did you mean about blood wards?" James inquired.

"Putting a blood ward on Hollis' crib so that, even in the unlikely event my first couple of plans fall through, he still can't get to her," Hollis said. "When Voldemort attacked my parents, he gave Lily a chance to step aside, and because she didn't and she died for me, that left a...residue, if you will, of her love in my blood. He couldn't touch me without it burning him up until he used that blood to regain his body. After that, it was no longer valid. _Now_ , though, he doesn't have that blood in his veins but I still do. He won't get past it. He can't. So what do you say?"

“ _Regain_ a body?” James repeated.

“Not telling that right now.”

"Well, as it comes down to agreeing to it, or having you stun us and doing it anyway, we'll agree," Lily answered for them.

"Thank you," Hollis said, pulling out the shrunken box in her pocket. She set it on their coffee table, enlarging it, and pulled out two vials of Polyjuice potion. "A hair, please." James tugged one out first, and she dropped it in one vial, watching as it turned bright blue and relatively thin. Lily's turned a dark gold and seemed more viscous. Hollis stored them carefully in her left hip pocket.

The floo flared up behind her and she spun, pointing her wand at the figure until she realized it was Dumbledore, who looked somewhat angry.

"What are you doing, young lady?" he asked.

"I was just about to call for one of the Longbottom house elves," she said blithely, "but your arrival distracted me."

Dumbledore's face darkened.

"Do not play that game with me, General," he said.

Why, she wondered, did Willem actually use her title while everyone else demoted her to ‘General’? Admittedly, to make things simpler, she had given them leave to do that, but of all people, Dumbledore should’ve had an easier time with remembering that she was actually – or _had_  actually been a Field Marshal.

"I only thought that, as you clearly know what I'm up too, you must be asking what I'm doing this instant," Hollis said smoothly, turning and closing Severus' potions box. "Lily, will you check and see if Willem is done? I need to speak to him. James, can you show me to Hollis' room?"

"Sure," Lily said, going out the front door.

"Um," James said, glancing behind her at Dumbledore.

"General," Dumbledore said, his voice stern.

Hollis mentally sighed as she turned to face him again, raising a single eyebrow. "Yes, Albus?" she asked flatly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder, I'm operating without a beta here. If you see a mistake, please point it out. I do my best, but sometimes I see what I know should be there, not what is actually there. 
> 
> Also, thanks for sticking with this so long. I am sorry about the abrupt hiatuses I tend to go on. I really don't mean too.
> 
> EDITED 2/19: Thank you for the two people who pointed out my passed/past mistake! It has now been corrected. :D


	15. Make Ready The Dogs of War Pt. 2

Severus had to marvel at the arrogance of a man who had just died as he walked up to the Potters' front door.

If it was him, he would've have three individual watchers on this place, and at least one each on close allies like Black, Lupin, the Longbottoms, Marlene McKinnon, and a few in Hogsmead and close to Hogwarts.

But no, the Dark Lord didn't see that as necessary.

The Potters' door opened before he could knock and Hollis stared at him with some bewilderment as she let him by. "What are you doing here?" she asked, glancing outside in a paranoid manner.

"Pride goeth before destruction," Severus quoted, flicking his eyes around the room quickly. Willem was sitting in an armchair and Lily on the couch, holding her daughter while Potter sat on the arm of the couch. Dumbledore stood near the fire, looking placid, but lightly tensed. A single box sat on the coffee table.

Her face relaxed as she snorted. "I cannot believe he didn't post a watcher. Fool." Severus lifted his shoulders almost imperceptibly in a shrug. "So what's his plan?"

"He didn't specify what time he would attack, but he wants me and Bella at his side when he attacks – we are to take care of Potter and Lily while he goes after Hollis," Severus informed her. "I know it will be tonight, likely late, when they're supposedly off guard, as before, or after they've turned in for the night. Here?"

"Polyjuice for the adults, Minny to pop out Hollis after Voldemort arrives and the wards go up," Hollis said. "Duplicated just about everything – the real objects are in the box – as this place is likely to be destroyed. Haven't actually gotten the wards up yet, just alerts. How good are you at them? I'm passable, but I know he can likely break through my work. We've always been able to undermine each other..." she trailed off with a slightly sour, exasperated expression.

"I'll do them," Severus assured her.

"How large of a window can you give us after the Mark starts to burn?"

"Full minute, but that's it. It'll be ten seconds out the door, to the edge of the property, two to apparate. Two to pass through the gate, twenty to walk up the drive, fifteen into the meeting room, probably at least a minute of boasting, and then forty-five off the property, two seconds here, and ten seconds up the drive if he's not cautious," Severus mused, his eyes narrowed slightly as he mentally charted out the path, the number of paces, and how quick his stride and the stride of the other two would be. "That would be three minutes and forty-one seconds from the time it starts to burn to down the potion, regain kinesthesia, adjust clothing, get the Potters out, and take their places. Then again, you could use glamors instead. That would save you time, and you will still have your physical being, which means you won’t have to adjust to a different one. That, and it will hold long enough to fool the Dark Lord, and then you can just drop it.”

Hollis nodded slowly, her face thoughtful as she chewed on her lip. "We can swing that," she decided. "And let's make it two and half minutes even – he _does_ like to talk, but he might be eager to just get it over with – and change the potion to the glamors." Severus made a small gesture, agreeing to that. "You said he was saner in this time yesterday. How much saner?"

"That was before I knew he had gotten his memories back. Now, his mind is fractured," he said. "He is extremely adept at Legilimency, though less so than he was in the future – ” It was like a muscle; having the memory of it was advantageous, but it was something that had to be worked constantly to fully develop and keep in good condition. “ – but he never fully mastered Occlumency, then or now, and the memories and sensations are crowding his mind, warring to be noticed and settled down into their proper place. He can ignore the majority of it, and he's obsessed over memories of you, so he very much understands that Hollis needs to disappear, but...he's not as stable as he was at any point in our timeline."

Hollis didn't show anything other than calm acceptance on her face, but the lines around her mouth were slightly deeper than usual. She was worried. "Which makes him unpredictable - and even more dangerous, considering what he knows. Was he a better dueler in this time or ours?"

"Ours, and his body isn't the same – he’s younger than he was, so he'll have more physical stamina, but if he throws big spells as is his wont, his core will exhaust faster than it did in our time. Also, since his mind isn't cohesive, there's always the chance that his focus will be off and he'll try to do two things at once which, at best, will backfire spectacularly or at least slow him down some."

Hollis nodded again and glanced around, her mouth curving into the faintest of smirks. "Don't look so down. He might be cunning and dangerous, but let's face it – he’s been trying to kill me since I was one, and he's yet to successfully manage it despite the fact that I was underage and untutored for half of that."

Potter and Lily looked horrified by that but Willem seemed taken aback and thoughtful.

"Wait," he said. "Just...when did you first start fighting with him?"

"Eleven years old, the first Quidditch match of the season," Hollis said succinctly. She looked at Severus. "I never thanked you for that, did I? Or apologize for Jean setting you...you know...on fire." She looked like she repressing a smirk and Severus rolled his eyes as everyone else's mouth dropped.

"No," he said. "But it was over ten years ago, it was my job, and she ended up helping by knocking that twit over on her way to me anyway. And the charm, while strong for her being eleven, was far from insurmountable." Hollis smiled a bit. "On more relevant matters, what've you charmed?"

"Nothing yet. I was about to set too when you arrived."

"Then shall we?" he suggested. There was no such thing as too much preparation when it came to matters such as this.

Her lips quirked faintly for a moment. "We shall."

* * *

 

James originally tried to help, but he found he wasn't very good at the type of charming they were doing, so he sat back and watched in horrified fascination. He had no idea the number of things in his house that could be used as a weapon or, if slightly charmed or transfigured, be lethal.

"I don't know whether to be disturbed that they know all these things or relieved that they know all those things," Lily remarked, watching as the time-travelling duo went up the stairs. They were going room by room, Willem following along, helping here and there, but mostly taking note of what options were available to him.

"I'm both," James said, running a hand through his hair.

"You’re willing to go along with this plan?" Dumbledore asked them seriously, looking at them intently. He had argued a great deal with Elizabeth as they were packing up the house, but she hadn't been perturbed by the fact that the most renowned wizard of their time was upset and counseling her against her 'reckless' plan.

Lily and James traded a look, reassuring themselves of the other's agreement, then looked back at their old headmaster.

"Yes, sir," James said. Then he smiled vaguely, only a little bitter. "Besides, she threatened to stun me and do it anyway."

Dumbledore blinked, and then shook his head a little. "Very well," he said. "Then I shall be at the Longbottoms, awaiting word. Do not hesitate to call."

"We won't, Albus," Lily said softly.

Dumbledore gave them a nod, then flooed away.

James released a breath and slid off the arm of the couch and onto an actual seat, slumping comfortably as he did so. It had been a very long day and the last thing he expected when he came home was to find Willem and Elizabeth in his home, planning for an attack from the sort-of Voldemort from the future. It wasn't in his nature to do things this way – he was bold and upfront and he wanted to take Voldemort on his own terms – but Lily and Hollis – both of them – were involved. He had to think about them. Elizabeth's plan was their best chance of survival and their best chance of ending the war _now_.

His mind returned to their short, private conversation earlier and he had to admit that she was right about the parent thing – and that he was privately relieved about it, even if it felt a bit like he was being rejected by his kid, which he kind of was. He hadn't even been a father for a year and the thought of trying to be a father to a woman who was not only older than him, but in love or highly infatuated with his school nemesis and highly skilled in the art of war, was a daunting one. He would've tried if that's what she wanted or needed – she was his kid from the future, and he placed family above everything – but he didn't think he would've done very well.

Still, he planned on keeping her close, making sure she understood that just because she didn't claim a spot as his daughter didn't mean she wasn't family, that she got to know the family she didn't get to have growing up. She'd be like a sister if he had his way. Or at least a close cousin.

That would mean, he reminded himself, that he'd have to include Snape. Which would be bad. James, personally, had never liked and possibly never would like the man, but the enmity they once had seemed so unimportant in the grand scheme of the war that he generally just ignored Snape. Of course, now that he and Elizabeth were attached (and it seemed likely that they would be for quite some time if not permanently), that was different. He'd have to be civil – had already promised to be civil.

And therein lay the trouble.

He could do it, but his best friend, his brother, could not. Sirius was an intense man – he hated or he loved, and seldom strayed into more neutral waters. And he _hated_ Snape.

"What?" Lily asked, breaking him from his thoughts. Her fingers were idly smoothing down Hollis' curls.

James looked at his beautiful wife, mentally comparing her face and features to Elizabeth's – there were some slight similarities, but she took mostly after him. "Just thinking," he replied, snaking one arm around her waist and pulling her close. He was a tactile person, and Lily's warm figure never failed to soothe him. "About how to not cause a world war by having Sirius and Snape in the same room in the future. Because they will be. She's family and while I may not like Snape, he's important to her. Like Petunia is to you, only…you know...in a different way." Lily snorted softly. "Anyway, I'm going to have to learn to get along with him, but Sirius..."

She patted his thigh comfortingly. "It might not make you feel better, but I sincerely doubt that either Severus or Elizabeth are going to have a problem dealing with him."

"I know," James said. "But I don't want him to end up in St. Mungo's either."

Lily laughed a little, then looked thoughtful, turning almond shaped green eyes to him. "Sirius is her godfather," she said, sounding surprised. "I wonder how he's taking _that_."

"I don't know. He didn't say anything," James said, recalling their conversation the night previous. It hadn't been particularly long, all of them still trying to wrap their minds around everything they had learned, but there had been a chance for Sirius to bring it up. And he hadn't.

Had he not realized it fully yet? James couldn't see how he _couldn't've_. It was right there, staring them in the face.

Elizabeth was the former future of Hollis – she was a warlord; she was tough and dangerous and so far from what James thought his daughter would grow up to be, had a past so beyond what he wanted for his daughter that he couldn't even find words for it. She was with _Snape_ , bargained about family, and treated Dumbledore like he was a regular person rather than the defeater of Grindelwald and one of the smartest, most powerful wizards of their time.

_Maybe_ , he thought, _that's the problem. All of_ that _overwhelmed the fact that she's his goddaughter – or sort of. I don't think she'd acknowledge or go along with that any more than she does the fact that I'm her dad._

Or maybe Sirius _had_ realized it – and didn't care. Maybe her nearly dislocating his shoulder yesterday, her relationship with Snape, her obvious differences from them, and her general behavior had done something, had rubbed him the wrong way. Her and Snape's veiled remarks about their Animagus abilities had definitely not endeared her any to him.

"You're worrying," Lily said, poking his forehead where the crease of his brow was. "Don't. He didn't say anything most likely because he doesn't know _what_ to say. I know I didn't have the first idea of how to take it. I _still_ don’t."

"That's true," James said.

"Plus," she added, "we're all still hurting over Peter. It's going to take a while for all of this to fully sink in."

He nodded and glanced around his living room. It looked exactly like it always did except for the box sitting on their coffee table. "How badly do you think the house will be damaged?"

"Pretty badly," she said a little sadly. "But at least we'll have all our things, all our photos and irreplaceable stuff."

"We have enough money to rebuild it several times over if we want," he said thoughtfully. "Or we could move somewhere else."

"I like it here, but maybe moving wouldn't be terrible," Lily said slowly. "Loads of tourists visit where Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald all the time – what if they do the same here? I don't want to live here if they do. It'd be invasive."

"Huh," James said. "I hadn't considered that."

* * *

 

Amyntas felt out of place as the Potters talked quietly on the couch, distractedly entertaining their baby daughter when she demanded their attention. He stood with his back to them, looking out the back window at the frosted garden. Snape and Grey were outside somewhere, laying down the necessary wards and probably discussing the upcoming fight in further detail.

They most likely wouldn't have even blinked if he followed them, probably would've artlessly included him in the conversation, but something in him warned him off and he always followed his instincts.

Part of him hardly felt like this was happening, that he was at the Potters' home, bracing for an attack from Voldemort, while the other part of him felt like this was all too real. He was confident in his abilities, and he knew with every fiber of his being that Grey was even more talented than he was, and Snape was likely to be his equal at the very least – but just the three of them against _Voldemort_ and _Bellatrix Lestrange_?

It felt insane and he itched to have more reinforcements, but he also knew that Grey had some waiting at the Longbottoms. That's what he had to remind himself of – that this wasn't her first battle, her first war, and that she knew perfectly well what she was doing, and how to think through all the possibilities. That he could trust in her and Snape, that they were the Wizarding world's best hope, that she was prophesied to be the Dark Lord's equal.

Still, he likely would've felt better if Dumbledore was still on hand.

To distract himself and help him focus on the fight to come, he started mentally mapping his way through the home. It was a tactic he always used when he could – he tried to become as familiar with his surroundings as possible so as to be able to retreat without having to turn his back or look away from his opponent, so he could know if there two inches between him and a weapon or two feet.

The Potters' home wasn't complicated, nor was it very cluttered with furniture, so he felt sure that he could navigate it comfortably even with the brief amount of time he had been in it.

* * *

 

Hollis walked silently with Severus, letting him work uninterrupted. Normally, casting a ward was an intensive process, but allowed for conversation as it was set up, but he was weaving two wards together, which would be faster and strengthen the wards, but required far more focus as wards could be very delicate.

Technically, she probably could've been inside, adjusting to a dozen different things - mapping out the house better in her mind, figuring out what they were going to do while they were waiting for Voldemort to breach the wards, and so on – but she wanted to spend what time she could with Severus. She simply enjoyed his presence for one, but for another, she had always loved watching him work. He was so focused, so intent, and he moved with economy, doing only what needed to be done and doing it with stately grace.

It wasn't as entrancing as watching him brew or crafting one of the blades, but it was still interesting, something she hadn't seen him do before.

"There," he said. "I've finished laying them. All that's left is to go around once more and make sure they set and anchored correctly."

Hollis nodded and they moved faster towards where they anchored the first point. It took far less time to go through them all than it did when he was laying them down, and they remained silent for most of it. When finished, they automatically turned back towards the Potters' front door. They got halfway towards it and Hollis was surprised by Severus catching her hand and bringing her to a stop. She was even more surprised when he tugged her close and kissed her.

It was a harder, more demanding kiss than any of the kisses they had previously shared and she did her best to rise to it, but was mostly reacting on instinct as he made it impossible for her to think straight. One hand cupped her face before tangling in her hair, and his other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her tightly against him. She stood on the tip of her toes, her hands gripping the front of his robes before winding around his neck. It was heady and intoxicating and so full of passion that it stole her breath. But there was a desperate edge to it, one that made her ache.

He was saying goodbye.

When air became necessary, he pulled back, but barely, and his hand slid from her hair to join his other arm at her waist. Both of them were breathing heavily, and he touched his forehead to hers in a way that was quickly becoming familiar to her.

"I have no intention of either you or myself dying tonight," he started after a few minutes of just holding her close. She felt a lump in her throat, fear clutching her heart. "But I did not intend to die in the last battle either. And I will not leave things the way I did then; I love you, Hollis Potter, and you're damn well going to know it."

For the first time, Hollis kissed him, something he definitely didn't mind. It was slower, softer, and sweeter than his, and she pulled away after a few moments, and then hugged him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She felt herself trembling and tried to contain her fear and breathlessness at the thought of him dying again. She tried to focus on the fact that _he loved her_ instead, but it wasn't easy. It had only been - Merlin, it hadn't been a full twenty-four hours since she had thought him dead.

"Don't – I love you, Severus," she said eventually, pulling back to look him in the face seriously. "Don't you dare die on me. I couldn't take it. Not again." Her voice cracked at the last sentence and she looked down to blink away the tears that automatically sprang up. At the same moment, her heart gave a painful wrench, remembering very clearly how awful it had been when she had thought she'd never see her Severus again.

Part of her wished their first 'I love you's weren't being exchanged in such a grim manner – it was something to celebrate, not something that was to be felt alongside fear and pain. Why couldn't there be just one normal thing about her life?

Severus let go of her and brought his hands up to cup her face, tilting it back so he could see it. "I may not like tears, but don't hide them from me," he said very softly, his thumbs brushing away the few that had escaped. "We out-number them tonight. We have surprise on our side. And even though I don't like the man, Willem _is_ one of the better duelers I know. We're both going to live, and you're going to move in with me, and we're going to have a grand time burning down that god-awful shack the Gaunts called home."

Hollis chuckled in a watery manner and sniffed once, pulling herself together. "Okay," she said, then smiled slightly. "Do you think _FiendFyre_ is good for roasting marshmallows?"

His mouth turned up very faintly at the corners as he dropped his hands from her face and settled them on her hips. "I have no idea. I loathe marshmallows – they're impossible to eat with dignity – but we can figure it out though, if you'd like."

"I would," she said firmly. He suddenly tensed, his body not moving but his eyes flicking sideways for a moment before narrowing. "What?" she asked warily, her own body tensing in response, but she didn't move.

"The Mutt and Lupin have arrived."

"Are they watching us?" she asked, relaxing. In the grand scheme of things, being caught kissing the man she loved was hardly something to get worked up over.

"Yes...I'm not sure how long they've been there," he added unwillingly.

"That's a first," she said teasingly. He gave her a dirty look and she only smiled again. "I have no shame in being caught kissing you," she added, deliberately standing on her toes to kiss him lightly again.

"I have none either," he said. "But I don't like being watched."

"I know you don't," Hollis agreed with a nod. She wanted to add 'dear', but didn't know if he'd appreciate that. Or if he'd want a pet name at all.

Their light conversation had dissipated the shadow that had fallen over them and it finally sank in that he _loved_ her. He said it – declared it, in fact.

Severus Snape loved her.

The mere thought of it made her whole being flush with elation and wonder. For the first time, there was someone who would set her above others not because of her abilities or her position and status, but because he loved her. Because he loved who she was, not what she was. And it wasn't someone who loved easily and fell out of it again just as quickly, but Severus, who never let anyone in much less told them about it. But he _had_ , and he had kissed her like there was nothing in the world he wanted more than to be right there, with her. Had continued to hold her in an open display of affection despite knowing they were being watched. And then there were all those letters she had yet to fully read...

_He really loves me,_ she thought in awe. _Me, Hollis._  

"What?" he asked, sounding curious and somewhat amused, and she became aware of the fact that she was smiling so brightly that it almost hurt.

"You love me," she said a little bashfully, the words feeling foreign in her mouth, but fantastic all the same.

He arched an eyebrow, blinking at her even as his face flushed lightly. "I just said that, didn't I?"

"I know, but it just hit me," she said, flicking his ear. He crinkled his nose.

"Always knew you were slow," he remarked.

Hollis looked at him in mock outrage, her hands sliding down to rest against his chest and give him a light shove. "Oh! This from a man who professes to love me."

Severus grabbed her hands, a perfectly serious look on his face. "Well, you've got to accept all the flaws of the person you love."

"Prat," she said, but she was smiling widely still. They continued to stand there, just staring at each other, but then the moment was broken by a sudden gust of strong, ice cold wind. "Perhaps we should retreat in doors now that we've finished," she suggested unwillingly, shivering.

"I suppose," he said, a little reluctance in his tone as well.

With a slight sigh, she schooled her face and, lacing one hand with Severus, walked the rest of the way up to the Potters' door. When they reached it, she intended to let go, but Severus' only tightened his grip, raising his eyebrows slightly when she looked back at him.

Hollis gave him a quick smile, and opened the door.

Everyone was busy looking they had been doing anything but spying on them, and Hollis hid another smile. Instead, pretending everything was as normal as ever, she and Severus went over the house one last time and then settled into a series of quick chess games, very little said between them.

“Checkmate,” Hollis said at length, letting a hint of smugness coat her words. Severus looked up and she could see the retort on his lips, but then a fissure of pain flicked through his eyes so quickly she almost doubted she had seen it. He rose fluidly to his feet, pulling his silver pocket watch, and starting to time it. “Time to go,” Hollis said, standing as well. “Go on, you lot – get over to Alice’s and let them know that the clock is ticking.”

Remus nodded, his face a little waxy, and pulled Sirius through the floo, and then James sent Lily through with the box while Hollis started working on her glamor. Off to the side, Willem was doing the same.

“Good luck,” James said, giving all three of them concerned looks.

“Don’t worry,” Severus answered for her as she was murmuring charms. His voice was completely steady, and he even favored James with a slightly reassuring look. “We’ll be just fine.”


	16. The Wave Breaks

"Don't make me kill you, Lucius," Severus said quietly, pulling off his mask and showing his sharp, pale face. There was no nervousness or hesitation in it, only quiet, unyielding confidence that rattled Lucius, who could only stare, confused and wondering what had happened.

Everything had gone according to plan – the Dark Lord had summoned himself, Bellatrix, and Severus, and they were to attack the Potters. It was supposed to be easy, two magicals against the three of them while the Dark Lord went after the baby. They had no problems apparating to the location provided by Severus and no wards had been tripped by their arrival. They checked to see if the Potters were awake – they were, playing cards in the dining room – and the baby was upstairs, sleeping. Then, boldly, the Dark Lord had strode up to the small, two story cottage and blasted the door open. After that was when things had gone to pieces.

The two Potters were suddenly standing in front of the staircase, their wands drawn and not a hint of fear on their faces. In fact, the woman was _smiling_ , a triumphant and somewhat malicious light in her eerie green eyes. Lucius had frowned briefly to himself – was she mad, perhaps? – and then he felt the wards seal them all in and Bellatrix had collapsed to the ground, having been killed from behind by Severus. Lucius had immediately pointed his wand at the dark haired wizard, but he hesitated because Severus was his friend and his son's godfather.

"You _dare_ – " the Dark Lord started to snarl, but was interrupted by a cold laugh.

"Yes, he dares," Lily Potter had said boldly, her voice sharp and commanding. Lucius glanced at her briefly, and then did a double take when her features started changing. The glamor charm was released and in Lily Potter's place was a woman of the exact same height, but with hair the color of a raven's wings, and it was curly rather than straight. It was also cut shorter, brushing her shoulders, and falling into her eyes a little; eyes that were a vivid shade of violet. Her face lost some of its soft roundness, shifting into sharper, thinner features that Lucius knew came from the Potter line – they had distinct faces – and her formerly willowy figure decreased into that of a very thin, fit woman who wore black leather clothing, clearly ready for battle.

Next to her, James Potter turned into the current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, Amyntas Willem. Lucius knew him to be a highly skilled dueler, but he doubted that _that_ was enough to make the Dark Lord take a step back, his red eyes widening first in – Lucius was stunned to recognize – _fear_ , and then insane hatred. His already pale face turned even whiter, and Lucius wasn't sure if it was more out of shock or fury, but was disturbed by it either way.

Who was the woman to cause such a strong, visible reaction in a man like the Dark Lord? What could she do that inspired such fear?

"Tell me, Tom – did you think you were the only one who fell back in time?" the not-Lily Potter had said, her face hard and her eyes dancing darkly. "Severus and I both came, and the wards won't let us leave until the two of us are dead – or you are. Shall we go ahead and get to it?"

Lucius was sure she was speaking English, but the words didn't make sense. Tom? Why was she calling him that? What did she mean, _fell back through time?_ Severus was a traitor? Who was she? He felt like he should know the answer; that, dancing on the edge of his mind, there was some truth that his mind didn't want to acknowledge.

But then chaos had broken loose, spells flying as the not-Potters focused on the Dark Lord, who replied in kind, and Severus turned on Lucius, giving him no time to think any further.

Lucius _had_ been certain he was the better of the two of them, but somehow, Severus seemed to have the jump on him, seemed to know what moves he would make before he made them, and knew all the counters to his curses. He also seemed to have gained the ability to cast completely without sound at some point, as well as an alarming amount of speed and agility. Before he knew it, Lucius was cornered in a back room and Severus held him at wand point, requesting quite calmly that Lucius give up before he was killed.

"I brought you in," Lucius said, trying to buy himself some time, "I vouched for your loyalty – and you _were_ loyal. I'm sure of it. What happened?"

_And why have you not killed me? I am sure you could've at least five different times before now, and yet you never did. Is it our friendship that stays your hand? Was that friendship real? Were you playing me to get more information for Dumbledore? Where is that old man, anyway? I don't understand..._

"A lot of things," Severus said. "And if you knew them, you would not be fighting for that monster."

"Tell me," Lucius demanded, his curiosity piqued. What did Severus know that he didn't? What and when had he changed? When had he gained such skill? Such confidence?

Severus considered it, studying him with unnervingly calm eyes. The eyes flicked away from him for the briefest moment, looking towards the living room across the house that they had originally been in, towards where the sounds of a fierce and violent duel were echoing from, and then came back to him almost immediately. He nodded to himself and Lucius found himself suddenly swamped in images and sounds, one of them his own but the rest of them completely foreign, coming from Severus himself.

* * *

 

_"A son – a_ son _, Severus! I have a son!"_

_"Congratulations, Lucius." There was genuine warmth in his friend's voice, as well as a tiny smile, and Lucius knew he was pleased._

_"You'll be the godfather, won't you?"_

_A long silence where Severus seemed to be at a loss for words, then – "I would be honored too..."_

_Lucius beamed at him._

* * *

 

_"Severus, what is going on? The Mark has faded – it barely shows!" Lucius' voice was quiet and tense in the darkness of the room they had met in._

_"The Dark Lord has fallen. He killed Potter and Lily, but when he tried to kill the girl, something happened. The house is in shambles and he is gone, but the girl_ lives _. Dumbledore is placing her somewhere safe."_

_"She's alive?"_

_"Indeed – and completely unharmed except for a small scar on her forehead."_

_"How?"_

_"No one knows."_

* * *

 

_"What has got your wand in a knot?" Lucius asked him idly, swirling amber liquid in a glass cup._

_"Potter was nearly killed today."_

_"_ What? _" The cup nearly tumbled from his hand._

_"Someone was jinxing her broom and she barely hung on."_

_"Well – that's...good, isn't it? She did kill our Lord."_

_Severus shrugged. "It could be, I suppose – if it happened somewhere other than Hogwarts. Need I remind you that your son – my godson – goes there? No one said that whoever tried to kill her was like us, only that they attacked her. They could just be doing so because she is a student, and if so, all students are at risk."_

_Lucius looked troubled by that. "Dumbledore will have you investigate, of course?"_

_"Yes, and I have my suspicions, but I have the feeling that this is far from over..."_

* * *

 

_"So the Dark Lord is alive," Lucius said, staring at his fire. His face was unreadable._

_"Barely," Severus said, his mouth curling slightly, "and he fled the moment that Dumbledore arrived."_

_Lucius, startled, peered at his friend with curious eyes before saying carefully, "If I was anyone else, I would say that you weren't pleased by this news."_

_Severus took a long time to answer, his face as impassive as ever._

_"Self-preservation has always been a typically Slytherin trait," he finally said, his words also slow and careful. "And I cannot help but wonder – how safe can it be to side with a man who was defeated by a one year old, and then by the same child ten years later?"_

* * *

 

_Severus stormed into Lucius' study, his face white with anger._

_"Severus – " Lucius started, standing to his feet. He froze when he found himself at the business end of an ebony wand._

_"Have you taken leave of your senses?" Severus snarled, his voice low and dangerous. "That beast_ you _unleashed could've killed someone! It almost_ did _kill someone!"_

_"The Weasley girl – hardly one to get upset over losing – " Lucius said carelessly, though his grey eyes were fixed on the wand._

_"It's a miracle that a student didn't actually die from the monster's gaze – a miracle that Draco wasn't caught by it, considering most of the pipes are down in the dungeons with the Slytherins. What if Draco_ had _been caught?" Severus demanded fiercely, his eyes glittering dangerously. "What if he hadn't been so fortunate as to catch the gaze off a reflection or through something? He would've died – and that doesn't begin to cover what could've happened if Draco had gotten a hold of that book. The Dark Lord is not kind and he would not care that Draco is the son of one of followers – he would use him and cast him off when he was finished. He would think that you would be honored to have your son's body used to host his soul, he wouldn't care that you lost your son and heir, wouldn't care that you love Draco – he wouldn't_ understand _that you love Draco more than you do your ideals or whatever," he continued, spitting out his words forcefully._

_"Severus – "_

_"Shut it, Lucius, and listen to me well – be_ very _careful about what you do from now on. I am your friend, but I_ am _teacher, and I_ did _take oaths to protect my students, and furthermore, I'm Draco's godfather and you've put him in a very dangerous position this year." The tip of the wand came up a little, and Lucius flinched minutely. "We both know it's only a matter of time before the Dark Lord well and truly comes back – figure out what you are going to do in that eventuality, and how that will affect your family. Narcissa can take care of herself, but Draco is barely thirteen and does not yet know the horror of the world. Would you expose him directly to it?" The last words were spoke quietly, and yet were no less intense because of their volume, nor were they affected by the fact that Severus had lowered his wand._

_"Have care, Severus," Lucius said coldly, his defenses up. "Those are a traitor's words."_

_Severus was not intimidated. "Those are the words of a man with his eyes wide open. There are dangers and downfalls to any side of a war. I've merely taken note of them before making my move."_

_"And what move is that?"_

_"Survival," he said succinctly before he turned to leave._

_"Who's?" Lucius called after him._

* * *

 

_Severus opened the door to a shaken-looking Lucius._

_"I know you remember the conversation we had a year and a half ago, after Draco's second year," Lucius started when he had a glass of firewhiskey in his hand. "I've considered your words, and after tonight..."_

_"You don't think you can do it," Severus said for him. He said it bluntly and without hesitation or condemnation. "You can't put Draco in the position of being exposed or used for the Dark Lord's ambitions."_

_Lucius downed the whole glass. "No," he rasped afterward. "I can't, but I fear it is too late. The Mark is growing darker._ He _is gaining strength. I don't know what to do."_

_"I'll take care of it," Severus said. "Dumbledore will not ignore me, and Draco will listen to me where he might otherwise ignore your words."_

_"He does look up to you," Lucius mused, accepting a second glass. "But…the Dark Lord..." He looked up at Severus, his face creased with grim worry. "Should he ever find out what you've done – what we've done – he will kill Draco, probably all of us, Narcissa included, out of spite and anger..."_

_"He doesn't have to know that you were involved," Severus said after a long moment of thought. "You know I am skilled in the Mind Arts. I can lock your memories of this conversation away."_

_"And yourself?"_

_"Do not worry about me. Not even when I was younger could the Dark Lord get past all my barriers, though I let him think he could."_

_Lucius nodded slowly, remaining quiet and pensive for several long moments._

_"Severus?"_

_"Mmm?"_

_"Where do you stand exactly?"_

_Severus’ back was to Lucius, and he closed his eyes, greater age than what he actually was showing on his face. "Where I need to."_

_"I don't understand."_

_He opened his onyx eyes._

_"No. Some days, I don't either."_

* * *

 

_A small version of Lucius stood before him, Severus off to the side, standing unobtrusively._

_"Father – I'm sorry – " the fourteen year old said._

_"Don't, little dragon," Lucius said softly, his face aged and sad. "I understand."_

_"I'll miss you and mother."_

_"We'll miss you as well, but it is better that you go."_

_"Did Uncle Severus tell you where – "_

_" – no, and it is also better that I don't know," Lucius interrupted._

_Draco nodded, his face equally sad and a bit lost looking. "Right. Afterwards, when this is over...I'll find you guys, okay?"_

_Lucius nodded, his eyes taking on a suspiciously shiny quality. "We'll look for you." Draco stepped forward and hugged him tightly, and Lucius returned it, murmuring roughly, "I am so sorry. If I could undo what I've done, if I could keep us together, I would in a heartbeat."_

_"I know, dad," Draco said, his voice slightly muffled._

_"It's time," Severus said quietly, stepping forward a little and watching Lucius' grip on Draco tighten a little more for a moment before he let go and pulled away._

_"I love you, Draco, so much. Be safe."_

* * *

 

_"Potter and Draco were captured. We have to move and we have to move_ now _."_

_Lucius' face turned white and they hurried without further words through Malfoy Manor, avoiding any other Death Eaters they came across, and not stopping until they reached the cells in the dungeons._

_"Draco," Lucius breathed, stepping up to one. A pale hand reached out and gripped his and Severus flicked his wand, lighting up the cell. Draco's face was pale, drawn, and dirty, but filled with relief and joy at seeing Lucius.  Beyond him was Potter, who was squinting her green eyes, apparently in need of glasses. Her black hair was tangled and matted with combination of mud and blood._

_"Father," Draco murmured. "What – ?"_

_"We're freeing you," Lucius said without hesitation._

_"What?" Potter said. "_ Lucius Malfoy _is springing you? I thought you said you two hated each other..."_

_"I might have lied," Draco said, his eyes seemingly soaking in Lucius' face. "He helped me leave and I didn't want to endanger him. How's mother?"_

_"She misses you, but otherwise...we're surviving," Lucius said._

_"I appreciate that this is the first time you've seen each in four years, but we_ really _need to move, Lucius," Severus cut in, looking around edgily._

_"How are you getting us out? This place is crawling with Death Eaters," Potter asked as Lucius started to open the cell door._

_"The passage under the pond, right?" Draco guessed. Lucius nodded and the gate swung open on silent hinges._

_"Don't we keep that squeaky?" Lucius asked, bemused._

_"Hollis has some skill with wandless spells. She charmed them to be quiet in case we ever could escape," Draco said, waving the girl forward. She slipped past him silently and, when Draco followed her out, Lucius hugged him briefly, but tightly._

_"It's nice to know he's not heartless," Potter told Severus in an undertone._

_The duo separated, and without further words exchanged, Lucius led the way deeper into the dungeons. All of them froze at the slightest sounds, but they encountered no one. Severus went through the trap door first, Potter following him without hesitation. Draco started to descend, but, like a malevolent wraith, Bellatrix emerged from the shadows._

_"I knew it!" she screeched. "I knew that disgrace got away too easily! Traitor!"_

_Draco turned away from the trap door, fear and determination filling his face in equal measure._

_"Go!" Lucius ordered him, pulling his wand and blocking a killing curse._

_"I'm not leaving you," Draco said, dodging another curse._

_"Yes, you are," Lucius said, turning his attention from Bellatrix to Draco. His face was surprisingly calm and he smiled reassuringly. "I'm so proud," he murmured, his eyes showing just how much._

_"Dad – "_

_Lucius raised his wand and banished Draco down the trapdoor._

* * *

 

_"What happened?" Draco asked immediately when Severus entered the room, his face full of anxiety. The room was full of people of all ages, each of them completely silent and waiting to hear what Severus had to report._

_Severus' shoulders were slightly slumped as he said, "Lucius dueled Bellatrix to a draw, and by then, the other Death Eaters caught up with them, and Lucius let himself be killed rather than being taken to the Dark Lord and having what he knew ripped from his mind."_

_Draco blanched and sat down hard. "And Mother?" There was no hope in his voice._

_"She's dead."_

_"How?" Draco asked hollowly._

_Severus hesitated._

_"Bellatrix," he finally said simply._

_Murmurs and gasps of horror resounded through the room, and Draco whitened even further, slumping in his chair._

_"Come on, Draco," Potter whispered from beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder. She waved at two boys to come help her, and the four of them left the room._

* * *

 

_"Where is he?" Severus asked Potter._

_Potter rubbed her face, dark circles under her eyes, and sighed. "Still in his room. He hasn't emerged or eaten since we got the news. He's basically comatose when he's not raging or crying. We've taken his wand, anything sharp, things he could hang himself with, and charmed everything else to prevent him from hurting himself."_

_Severus closed his eyes, looking beyond weary. "Lucius knew what he was doing – has always known the risk he ran..."_

_"Why?" Potter asked softly. "I don't understand. Why did Lucius keep fighting for that monster?"_

_"To protect Draco. The Dark Lord was not pleased to hear Draco had run, but he still had access to the Malfoy money and property, so he was content with leaving Draco for another time. Plus, if Lucius was ever around in a raid and saw Draco, he helped redirect attention away from him. And if Draco was ever caught, Lucius wanted to be able to get to him and get him out. He couldn't do that if he was in hiding himself. Plus, he caught some of the things I couldn’t and passed them on," Severus explained tiredly._

_Potter nodded slowly. "He was a good man in his own way after all..."_

* * *

 

_"How the hell did he get ahold of a knife? You were supposed to be watching him!" Potter demanded furiously of a skinny young man with wheat blonde hair and wide, scared, brown eyes. They stood outside of what looked like a hospital wing._

_"I – I did – " he stuttered._

_"Apparently not well enough! You better hope he survives, Corporal, or – " she snarled, tears brimming in her eyes. She was cut off by Severus lightly touching her shoulder._

_"You're dismissed, Corporal," he said quietly, his face blank and his eyes lifeless._

_The man left quickly and Potter sank into a chair._

_"I'm sorry. I should've been watching him – " she mumbled to Severus, her voice thick._

_"You had other things to attend too," he said firmly. "As did I. We did what we could, what we thought was right at the time, and we can't blame ourselves for Draco being cunning."_

* * *

 

_Severus, Potter, and several others close to Potter's age all stood around a gaping, rectangular hole with a tombstone that read 'Draco Abraxas Malfoy'._

_A boy with dark brown hair, a thin face, and dark eyes started singing lowly –_

_'Dark the sun, and dark the moon,  
Hush the night and the morning loon'_

_The others looked at him and, one by one, joined in._

_'Tell the horses and beat on your drum,  
Gone their master, gone their sun...'_

_The song continued as each slowly let their handfuls of dirt fall on the dark grey casket. Severus was the last and, with a single tear, dropped his handful along with one black rose, his face unbearably sad._

_'...gone their master, gone their sun…"_

* * *

 

Lucius was released from the siege of images, the song echoing in his ears, and he sucked in a breath, feeling like he was drowning under the weight of the realization of his son's suicide, of his wife's torture and eventual death. He stomach rolled and he leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and trying desperately not to throw up as he reoriented himself in the present.

"This is what that monster will do to your family if he continues on." Severus' hushed whisper echoed in his ears, reminding him of the younger wizard's presence. "What he will do to _everyone's_ families."

"How do you know that?" Lucius asked, breathless as he opened his eyes. It was there on his the edge of his mind, the realization of what was implied in Severus' memories, but he wanted to hear it from his friend's mouth.

"I think you know," Severus said. "All my memories from about four years after Draco's suicide came back, but not my physical body, so I do not look any different. Hollis Potter also came back, but I presume you have connected her face to the woman dueling Voldemort by now.

Lucius, reminded of the Dark Lord being only down the hall, was suddenly struck by the silence that came from there.

"How long were you in my mind?" he asked, glancing that direction.

"Not long enough for it to be this quite," Severus said, his mouth thinning slightly. "Make up your mind quickly about what side you're on now - _his_ – " The word was sneered with distaste. " – or Draco's."

"The fact that you even have to ask after knowing me for longer than I've known myself is insulting," Lucius replied on reflex, making his choice even as he spoke. "You're sure you can do this?"

"She can, and we can provide enough distraction to help," Severus said simply.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Severus almost smiled as he lowered his wand, but he didn't comment. Instead, he turned, striding back towards the living room on silent feet. Lucius followed him quickly, wondering how he was going to protect himself and his family when this was over. Death Eaters would still be roaming around, free, and if they heard of his part in the Dark Lord's impending downfall, he would be a dead man walking. If they could catch him alive – if _Rodolphus_ caught any of them alive...He shuddered at the thought, his resolve wavering for only a second, but then he saw the future-Draco's face when future-Lucius banished him through the trap door, the utterly heartbroken expression he wore when he heard that future-Lucius had died, remembered the despair that had filled _him_ while future-Potter was yelling at the Corporal for future-Draco getting a knife and committing suicide, at the sight of his son's too-early grave.

Draco deserved more than such a bleak, ugly future. If that meant they lived in Chile, hiding, for the rest of their lives, then so be it.

Lucius was brought out of his thoughts by Severus coming to a stop. Part of the second floor had collapsed into the hallway and, instead of taking the time to set it to rights, Severus' simply blew a hole in the wall and went through it. It led outside and Lucius cast a warming charm on himself to fend off the icy, brisk wind.

They circled around to the front of the house and Lucius couldn't hear any sounds of a fight anymore, nor were there any lights that would indicate spells, and he wondered if, perhaps, everything was already over. He would be more than okay with that, so long as the girl – Hollis – came out on top. If she fell, he would still fight with Severus to bring the Dark Lord down, but Severus had said _she_ could, not _we_. He pondered at the word choice as they moved carefully around the wreckage, then it hit him that there was no one around, no one screaming and panicking despite the fact that _someone_ must have seen the destruction. The entire left side of the house was gone, strew across the meager property. It wasn't late enough for everyone to be asleep, and even if it was, the noise must have been enormous.

Then again, perhaps whoever had laid down the wards had added something to keep people outside from noticing what was going on.

He realized his thoughts were drifting again as Severus swore under his breath.

The Dark Lord and Hollis/Lily had apparently lost their wands somewhere along the way and he had her pressed against a wall, his hands luminous with raw magic as he tried to get them around her throat. Her face was set defiantly and she had a grip on his wrists, her own hands gleaming with pale gold magic as she worked the keep the undoubtedly deadly hands away from her. Where bits of the magic connected, Avada-Kedavara-green sparks shot off, burning through whatever they touched.

Lucius caught sight of the still body of Willem and couldn't tell if he was dead or just unconscious.

" _Accio Tom Riddle_ ," Severus said flatly, his eyes glittering with such _hatred_ that it made Lucius want to take a step back. He did take half of one when the Dark Lord jerked towards them, though Severus canceled the spell before he could be dragged all the way to them.

Hollis took the opportunity to lunge forward, physically tackling the Dark Lord to the ground and putting her hands over his heart while her knees held down his arms.  He screamed, trying to buck her, as gold magic around her hands flared into flames so bright that Lucius had to look away.

"Shield, Lucius!" Severus commanded, his voice sounding further away.

Lucius obeyed and the light dimmed, now filtered through the transparent blue of his shield, which he had to keep a steady stream of power flowing into; the gold magic was burning it away at a taxing pace. Still, Severus had a better idea of what was going on, so he kept he shield up and tried to figure out what was happening. The screaming was still going, but he knew a waning scream when he heard it. The Dark Lord was nearly at his end or blacking out.

Either way, it was good for them.

Finally, the screaming stopped, but the gold magic kept on shining brightly.

“Pull it back, Hollis!” Severus yelled from that same distant point.

“I – I’m trying!” she shouted back, panic and strain coloring her tone.

Lucius felt vague concern stir for her. If she couldn’t keep her magic from pouring out, she could possibly kill herself. At the very least, she’d be out of it for two or more weeks while her system stabilized, and then on bed rest even longer as her body recovered.

“Use your Occlumency – get yourself under control,” Severus said. There was a long period of silence. “Hollis?” No answer, though the light was starting to dim. “ _Hollis!_ ”

Still, no answer and Severus swore viciously.


	17. Aftermath

"Does she need a healer? I can easily procure a private one for her," Lucius offered as Severus gently gathered the limp form of Hollis into his arms.

She weighed more than expected, but she was still alarmingly light and he wondered if, now that they were in a place where they could eat as much as they wanted when they wanted, she would gain any weight. Merlin knew she could use it.

"She's unconscious from magical exhaustion, Lucius," he said, working to keep his tone even as panic threatened to claw its way out of his system. It wasn’t the first time he had seen her in such a state – and he hadn’t liked it much then either – but it was the first time they were…whatever it is they were and that certainly didn’t ease his fears any. Of course, he had to keep a lid on it, he couldn’t afford to have a clouded mind _now_ , of all times.

Hollis needed him.

" _Of course_ she needs a healer, but your offer is unnecessary. Grab Willem and follow me to my place."

He strode from the ruins of the Potter cottage and disarmed the wards keeping him from apparating. He waited until Lucius had also cleared the line to turn it back on, so to speak, and then, with a crack, they both apparated to his small home on Spinner's End. The wards there kept Death Eaters from the premises, but he had long ago modified them to allow Lucius past them.

Once in the living room, he set Hollis very carefully on the couch.

"Must be some highly trusted healer for you to allow him in here," Lucius murmured. Severus didn’t disabuse him of the idea that he was going to be bringing anyone to his house but concentrated on Hollis' pulse, making sure she was steady enough for the moment.

"Watch her," he ordered, taking control of the still unconscious Willem and floating him towards the floo. "I'll be back." Lucius just nodded, not bothering to argue with him and Severus tossed in a large pinch of floo powder, calling, "Hogwarts Hospital Wing!"

In a few spins, he strode from the floo, feeling the automatic signal that was sent to Poppy, and walked to the closest bed. Thankfully, the wing was devoid of students and Poppy came quickly.

"What – Severus?"

"Poppy," he greeted. "I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with him as I was not in the room, but here he is." He turned and started to walk away.

"Is that all you can tell me?" she demanded, upset, as she started waving her wand over him.

He looked back at her. "He was dueling with a friend against Voldemort. Beyond that, I'm sorry."

She gaped, then managed, "You're not going to stay?"

"I can't. Other matters need to be attended too."

"And – and You Know Who? He escaped?"

Severus allowed himself a small, brief smile. Part of him didn’t believe it, not yet, but even the mere _idea_ of Voldemort never threatening them again was enough to bring a surge of fierce elation.

"No. He's dead, Poppy."

If she hadn't a patient to attend to, he suspected she would've collapsed onto the bed from shock.

"Oh, Severus, if you’re joking – no, you wouldn't – oh, great Merlin!"

Her hands fluttered about, finally landing on her mouth as her wide eyes stared at him in incredulity.

"Indeed," he said. "It is not yet well-known, nor will the papers report what happened accurately, so whatever you hear…whatever you put together yourself...I ask your discretion in the matter."

"On my word, Severus, I won't say a thing to a soul – not even Dumbledore himself could pry it out of me," Poppy promised, straightening into the stern nurse he remembered from his school days. They had always gotten along well during his school years – or as well as a boy like him, who loathed hospital wings, could with a nurse.

With one last smile, he nodded his thanks and left, returning to Spinner’s End.

Lucius was seated in one of his armchairs, idly looking at Hollis but clearly far away in his thoughts based off the pensive, distant expression he wore. He looked up when Severus came through the floo and his brow knitted as no one else followed.

“Where – no healer?”

“I don’t intend to bring a healer here,” Severus informed him, walking around his coffee table.

"Why not? Are you qualified to treat this?" Lucius asked dubiously, shifting to get a better look at what he was doing.

"Qualified enough," Snape said succinctly, crouched next to Hollis and casting a few diagnostic charms. “And healers ask more questions than I care to answer, and the ones you can buy silence from can be paid to sell you down the river."

"Not when you have blackmail on them," the blonde wizard countered.

"I'm not doing it, Lucius," Severus said as he pushed back Hollis' left sleeve, rolling it to hold it in place and expose her inner elbow. Her tattoos stood out starkly against her currently snow white skin and Severus briefly let his eyes drift over the long list of dates, some of them standing out sharply to him and others fading into the myriad of battles and deaths that had colored the last several years.

Severus muttered a couple of quick, wandless charms to clean the area around her inner elbow as he knelt down beside her, then started conjuring up items and a silver tray to set them on. He pulled out a slender vial of inky black liquid he had stayed up even later the night before brewing, and set it down on the tray as well, glad he had had the foresight to expend the time and energy to brew it.

He had considered putting it off for at least another day – it was hardly as if he could even begin to suspect everything that would happen that night – but he had decided to get it over with because it wasn’t that difficult and it was useful to have on hand. He had hoped that she _wouldn’t_ deplete herself so severely, but he had seen the results of the Dark Lord’s duels with her all too often to think that there wasn’t a good possibility of exactly this happening. Having the potion would reduce the effects, though, speeding up her naturally quick healing abilities as well as steadying out her body’s reaction to loosing so much magic in so little time.

Severus grabbed the latex gloves he had conjured, putting them on before picking up the tourniquet.

"What are you doing?" Lucius queried suspiciously as he tied it tight above her elbow.

"Stabilizing her," he answered shortly, wandlessly and silently casting a focused _Lumos_ so that he could very clearly see her veins, which were even more visible than before thanks to the tourniquet. He picked up the syringe, cast a charm to even further sterilize it twice, and then filled it with the viscous liquid. He set the vial, still half full, to the side and tilted the needle up and flicked it a couple of times, getting all the air bubbles to the top, and then pushing on the bottom slowly until they were out of the syringe and there was a small spurt of the potion.

"By doing what? Are – are you going to _stick her_ with that thing?" Lucius said incredulously. "Why not spell it into her stomach?"

"Not fast enough and we don't have the charms to put it directly in her veins. Muggles, however, have been doing this for quite some time and it’s very effective," Snape said, picking a vein very carefully and wandlessly holding her arm at just the right angle. He stuck the syringe in, making Lucius mutter something about ‘barbarians’, and banished the tourniquet before pushing down and injecting the potion into her system.

His free hand reached for the gauze and he pulled the needle out, immediately covering the tiny hole with the gauze and putting some pressure on it as the syringe vanished from his fingers. Severus picked up his wand to cast a healing charm over the small wound, and then vanished the gauze as well. He inspected the injection sight, but everything seemed as well as it could be, so he unrolled her sleeve, smoothing out some of the wrinkles it had acquired, and then laid her arm to rest across her stomach. He shifted up into a crouch and placed two of his fingers against her throat, searching for her pulse. He pulled out his silver pocket watch and counted the beats as the second hand ticked away. It was steadier and stronger than it had been and a trickle of cold relief went down his spine and the tension in his muscles drained away.

"Is she okay now?" Lucius asked with vague concern, though Severus could tell it was a shallow emotion at best.

No matter what role she played in ending the war, in preventing the suicide/murder of his family, she was just a stranger to Lucius and he had never been the sort known for making sincere friends easily. Neither of them had been.

"More or less. She'll be out of it for a day, maybe two, and after that, she'll just need more rest than usual," Severus answered with a nod, starting to stand and picking her up. He carried her sideways up the narrow staircase and to the master bedroom that had once belonged to his parents, laying her down in a comfortable position. He spared a few moments to remove her boots and battle coat, putting the boots at the end of the bed and hanging the coat off of one of the bed’s posts. He’d come back up after taking care of a few more things, including letting the waiting Order know what was happening and figuring out exactly where Lucius stood with him.

He actually felt a little bad about sending such a stream of memories and sensations to his old friend like that, but it had been necessary. He didn't have the time to explain things verbally, and Lucius was familiar enough with memories to know that he had been showing true ones – and unfamiliar enough with Severus' more recently acquired abilities to not be aware that Severus knew how to forge memories. Not that he had; he wouldn't do something like that, leading the man to believe that his wife had been tortured to death and his son had committed suicide. Severus might not be the best of men morally speaking, but he wasn't that cruel.

Severus lightly brushed his fingers along Hollis’ face, brushing back a few stray wisps of hair.

“I’ll return,” he promised before leaving the room and making his way back down the stairs. His steps felt heavy and he wondered, briefly, if it was because his subconscious acknowledged that his fight was pretty much over and it was letting all the weight he had held back – had been forced to hold back just to be able to keep going – finally spill over, or if it was just because he knew he had a long night ahead of him when he’d rather stay at home.  

“What is in this?” Lucius asked, obviously hearing him. He was holding up the slender vial that held the remaining potion, peering at it intently.

Severus considered explaining it properly but settled for saying only, “A variety of things that, as I said, will help Hollis be up within a matter of days rather than weeks.”

"That seems like it would be very useful. Can you mass produce it?"

"Yes and no. It's not actually all that difficult to brew, but it's customized to _her_ , making it useless or downright dangerous to everyone else, and the closest generic replica will be invented in a year or two by a man who needs the patent far more than I do."

“How generous of you,” Lucius said dryly, looking at him. Severus could spot the faint surprise in his silver eyes, which were a few shades darker than Draco’s would be, and he ignored it, only shrugging and moving to his writing desk. He picked up a quill and after thinking it over, quickly but carefully penned a short note. Once done, he spelled it dry before sticking it in an envelope and scrawling Alice Longbottom’s name across the front. He charmed it to go directly to her as she was a neutral party and it was her home.

“What do you plan on doing with the Dark Lord and Bellatrix?” Lucius inquired as he moved to the floo to send it through.

“I have a plan,” Severus says vaguely, crouching and tossing in a pinch of floo powder. The flames flared, turning bright green, and he said, “Longbottom Manor” and threw the letter in. It was whisked away in something of a tornado of fire and the flames in his grate turned back to normal after a few moments. “I could use your help, if you’re willing,” Severus added, rising to his full height and turning to face Lucius. “If not, I’ll kindly ask you to go. I’d rather get this over before word of the Dark Lord’s downfall spreads.”

Lucius didn’t say anything immediately, studying him. “You speak differently. Carry yourself with more authority. You used to try and blend more.”

Severus didn't comment on that. Truthfully, he knew he was being a bit like Hollis – so used to his authority, so used to being second to the commander of both the Light and the Dark armies that he didn't even think about using that weight when he needed to get things done. He would, like her, have to work on that. Not entirely because if someone acted like they had that kind of authority, then people predominately reacted as if they did, and that could be very useful to them later on. But they still needed to make it something they thought about more consciously before they made a mistake. It was unlikely, but he had not lived so long without taking those kinds of precautions.

"So what is your plan?" Lucius asked, having gathering that he wasn't going to say anything.

"The rest of the Inner Circle," Severus said forthrightly. "I need them arrested or dead."

Lucius stared at him, conflicting emotions playing out beneath his thinning pureblood mask. "I – you're not really my friend, are you?"

Severus took a moment to form an honest answer. "Yes and no. I still consider you a friend, but no, I am not the man you remember. Mentally, I'm almost twice my physical age, and I am most certainly wiser than I was. I understand and see things differently now."

"These men – they're my friends. Maybe not quite as close as you are – were – but I went to school with them, and so did you," Lucius said. "They consider you a comrade in arms. They respect you, respect your abilities."

"They're animals," he responded bluntly, letting some of his disdain for them show. "They may have the pureblood facade down pat, but we both know that they're utterly without remorse for any of their actions."

"So am I," Lucius said. "I've never once looked back at what I've done and thought perhaps I shouldn't have done it. I may not have enjoyed it, but I don't regret it."

"You regretted it plenty when it affected Draco," Severus countered. "They don't – they _won't._ Lestrange and Avery killed their sons for trying to escape becoming Death Eaters. Dolohov tortured his, and then left him for dead. It was a miracle the boy survived, and even then, he was almost wholly dependent on his caretaker until Dolohov's final curse ran its course and killed him. McNair fortunately never had children, and Theodore Nott was dosed with a potion by his wife so that his son could quietly disappear without him being any wiser.

“Not all their children elected to risk leaving, and not all of them _wanted_ to leave, but even those who stayed were usually twisted by their parents into little monsters. The wives, if there were children in the match, were usually more sympathetic towards their children, but they didn't always help like Lady Nott did. Sometimes, they even turned a blind eye to their kids' plight, be it at the hands of Voldemort or the hands of their fathers. Are you saying that either you or Narcissa would be like that?"

Lucius was quiet for a long moment and Severus let him think. He would not twist his arm into this. It wouldn't do him any good. Lucius _had_ to come at this all on his own, or there was every chance he'd go back. He was right – Severus _wasn't_ the same man, and while he was exceedingly glad about that, it would leave Lucius wary and uncertain, even in the light of – and perhaps especially because of – the memories Severus had shared.

"I want no hand in whatever you intend on doing," Lucius finally said. "If any one of them escapes or isn't convicted, it's my family they'll come for. I won't do it."

"As you wish," Severus said, having expected such an answer. "All I ask is that you don't give anyone forewarning that I'm after them."

"I won't," Lucius said.

Severus nodded his thanks. "Very well. Please, give Narcissa my regards."

Lucius nodded in reply and left after one last lingering look. Severus considered going back upstairs, but shook his head and rolled his shoulders, settling his former self around him like a cloak. He wouldn’t tip off the other Death Eaters to the fact that he was different until the last second, and even then, he would maintain the façade for as long as he could, just in case.

* * *

 

To say that tension in the room was sky-high would be an understatement, Alice thought, glancing around her living room.

Despite Elizabeth Grey’s cautionary words, most of the Order had gathered as the news that something was happening spilled down the grapevine. The stories Alice had heard for what, exactly, was going on were incredible – it was amazing how twisted things could become – but most of them got it right that Grey was involved and that it was Important.

“We should go,” Edgar Bones said, making her glance over to where he leaned against a wall.

“No,” James spoke up from where he was sitting on a couch, hunched forward and staring at the ground as if it held the answer to life’s mysteries. His head came up and repeated, “Grey said they could do it. Give them a chance.”

“They’ve _had_ chance,” Moody growled.

“It’s only been thirty minutes,” Frank said. “You can’t think You Know Who would go down that fast.”

“Half an hour is a lifetime in battle, boy. You know that.”

“Yes, and I also know that as much as we could help by going over, we could do just as much damage. Grey wanted James and Lily out of the way – wanted _all_ of us out of the way – probably so that she didn’t have to worry about us. What do you think is going to happen if we just pop out of the floo while You Know Who is flinging the Killing Curse around?”

Alice could easily imagine that split second of distraction, that concern, and how quickly the light would leave Elizabeth’s unusual violet eyes.

She shuddered.

She hardly knew the witch well – it had only been an unbelievably long and yet short few days – but she was already a decisive event in Alice’s life. Nothing would be the same after meeting her, and Alice couldn’t imagine anything more cruel than if she died after all she had done, all she had sacrificed, to end this bloody, awful war. She couldn’t imagine anything worse than if she died and Severus lived in a perverse reversal of the events surrounding Elizabeth’s mysterious arrival in their time.

_How terrible it would be_ , she thought, _to die and then live only to have your love die._

“Give them another quarter of an hour,” Dumbledore said from the armchair he had planted himself in nearly three hours ago. “If we do not hear anything, we will check in on them.”

Just then, the flames turned green and spat out an envelope, which shook itself to be rid of the soot that cover it. It floated up, turned slowly as if surveying the room, and the floated almost merrily to Alice.

She took it gingerly, staring at the unfamiliar spidery, but strong, hand.

“That’s Severus’ handwriting,” Lily said, peering at it from where she sat on the end of the couch. Alice’s armchair was pushed close to it to offer her best friend what comfort she could in those terrible few minutes where they had to wait for Minny to pop in with Hollis. “Open it.”

Alice nodded and did so, reading it over several times while ignoring the questions thrown her way.

_AL,_

_Voldemort is dead, as is Bellatrix. Elizabeth is well enough. Willem is resting at Hogwarts, suffering from injuries unknown to me. I did not witness what he was struck with, but outwardly, he seemed fine. A bruise, a couple of scratches, perhaps. Contact Mme. Pomfrey for further details._

_Tell the Order, as I’m sure they’ve all gathered, but making it perfectly clear that they cannot breath so much as a word of this to anyone, ever. I have some things left to accomplish that require their discretion. _

_-SS_

Blankly, she read it out to the group, unable to fully comprehend the words.

In time, probably by the time the rest of the world was told, the news would actually sink in. They would celebrate and there would be parties and probably even a memorial for this night. But for now, however, they all sat in silence.

“They did it,” somebody said. Alice didn’t catch who. “They _actually_ did it.”

“They said they would,” James replied matter of factly, as if he had believed in them this whole time.

Which he had, Alice knew. If James was known for anything, it was his faith in his friends and even though he most likely didn’t count Snape as a friend, he definitely believed in Elizabeth, and therefore, by extension, he also believed in Snape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read a Wiki article, I think, on how to give her the injection, so if you're medically inclined--I very much am NOT--and I've got this wrong, forgive me and shoot me a message or leave a review. I can't say I'll go back and change it, but I'd like to know all the same for future reference. Thanks!


End file.
